Chapter 104: The King Candidates

「Heh…」Reuk let out a mocking noise as she slurped in the strawberry cocktail that she had ordered from the bar at the inn. This choice of beverage was rather peculiar for the former elf since she was known for chugging down mugs after mugs of strong alcohol, only to be often stopped by Ryan once she was too drunk to sit right. Yet, after having his consciousness transferred into this homunculus vessel, Reuk's taste had greatly changed since she could no longer tolerate the strong smell of hard liquor, now had to resort to drinking mere glasses of cocktails, which has certainly grown on her.

「What are you smirking at, Reuk?」Haden walked back to her booth, handing her another glass of cocktail that she had asked for.

「Your "heartless" Master, of course.」Reuk smiled. The homunculus body Reuk possessed was clearly drunk, her face was now beet red.「Although he wanted to build his own kingdom and command his own forces, he opted not to come with his father to be involved in an important meeting with the top brass of this city… hic… which, I'm sure, would only help him in his ambition.」Reuk reached out for the new cocktail glass.「Instead, he stayed with Yuusei because the poor hybrid's been feeling down.」

「From my time with Kibadios sama, I've learned something.」Haden sat down across from Reuk.

「and what was … hic…that?」

「That Kibadios sama may truly be cold and heartless to those he considers strangers, but to those who he loves, he can be the most caring and compassionate. I think that was part of the reason why so many followed him during his first reincarnation millenia ago… and why we're all serving him now.」

「You!」Reuk corrected the former adventurer.「You serve him. I'm just… hic… you know, coming with him.」

「Yeah, yeah, I know.」Nodded Haden with a smile before turning grim. 「Though, sometimes, I wonder… since the only things that helped him keep his humanity are his connections to Rowan, Maia and the others… if one day, something would ever happen to anyone in his beloved harem, which is not outside of the realm of possibility since the path we took will certainly lead us to the conflict against the Yin Empire, the Theocracy, and ultimately, the Astrals themselves… I wonder, what will happen to the last shred of his humanity by then.」

「...I don't know… I try not to think about it. But there's one thing I know.」Reuk seemed to have suddenly sobered up after listening to Haden's ominous thoughts. 「That I certainly don't want to be the one who incurs his wrath by hurting those he loves.」

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「So, tell me, what happened during your trip here, Yuusei?」Kibadios asked the mutant hybrid, who had, by this time, transformed back into his shota form and snuggled into his master's lap, his back leaned against the hybrid's firm chest, after Kibadios signaled him to come over. From the snippets that the others have told him, all he knew was that Yuusei met someone from his past, who had previously helped him before, and that caused the adorable member of his harem to turn sorrowful. If Kibadios had to guess, it must have been because the meeting reminded the mutant hybrid of his past, which Kibadios had intentionally refrained from asking ever since his first meeting with the boy.

「...」Yuusei remained silent, not wanting to share his troubled past with his Master. After all, the crime of killing his own mother was not just a small infraction. The mutant hybrid was scared his master, the source of his light and happiness, would abandon him once he learned of his past.

「Fine.」Kibadios lowered his chin onto Yuusei's soft hair, one of his hands cupped the small bulge in the hybrid beastman's pants while the other reached out to the boy's nipple through his dark shirt. Since Kibadios was now sitting in the corner of the booth, surrounded by his harem, none of the customers at the tavern could have noticed his erotic teasing of the mutant hybrid.「I won't force you to tell me what happened, but as a punishment for keeping secrets from me, your punishment is to remain celibate until whenever you're ready to tell me.」

「Master~」The young mutant cried out in moans. Of course, he did not know what celibate means, but he could infer it from his master's tone. His heart sank as he realized Kibadios would not be touching him tonight, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, not until when he decided to tell his master the truth. Still, the half beastman remained tight lips, figuratively and literally since he was trying to suppress his moanings. Kibadios continued to play with Yuusei for a few minutes, to the point that the bulge in his pants has now become much more noticeable.

「Still don't want to tell me?」Kibadios checked.

「...」Yuusei remained silent, though he jolted the moment he heard his master audibly sighed.

「Master… Please… What Yuusei did… Master will hate Yuusei.」

Contrary to the irritated mood that Yuusei had expected his master to be in, Kibadios gave the mutant hybrid a gentle smile as he lifted the boy up, turned him around and placed him back onto his lap. Yuusei was blushing red, fully conscious of the fact that his hard crotch was now grinding against Kibadios while his Master's gaze was fixating on him.

「Listen, Yuusei.」Kibadios spoke softly to the whimpering mutant hybrid. Any hints of the hybrid incubus' sadistic and ruthless side completely vanished as he looked straight into Yuusei's eyes and continued with a simple question.「First of all, I was only kidding when I said I'm not going to touch you until you tell me everything. There's no way I can resist the temptation with you next to me like this.」Kibadios pulled Yuusei in for a deep, long kiss while his hands discreetly wrapped around both of the mutant hybrid's buttocks and gave them a soft squeeze.「Did you realize that I never once have questioned you about your past?」

「Yuusei noticed.」The mutant hybrid nodded lightly.

「Do you know why?」Yuusei simply shook his head.「That's because I hope one day, you would confide in me your past on your own. I don't care for your past, for your present and future now all belong to me, Yuusei. But, if your past is haunting you, then I want to share that burden with you.」

「But Yuusei did horrible crime… with Yuusei's own hands.」confessed the mutant hybrid. His eyes study every slight change in expression on his master's face.

「Then it's my duty as your master to share your guilt, Yuusei.」Kibadios smiled. Yuusei, in turn, stayed silent for a moment before nodding his head. Sitting around the booth, the group listened to Yuusei's past attentively, their eyes welled up with tears as the boy recalled the traumatic experience his leaking miasma had brought to him and his mother. Before long, Yuusei finally told them about the fateful morning, when he accidentally killed his mother after she had fallen into madness, then how he was hiding in the forest nearby his house, before revealing how he was found by the same man who confronted him yesterday, and how the same man had allowed him to escape by lying to the other villagers, who were out hunting for him.

「So that's why meeting the man named Eugene reminded you of the past you want to forget, Yuusei chan?」Maia, by now, had pulled him into her embrace while patting his head.

「... Yes.」The mutant hybrid simply nodded.

「... Yuusei chan.」Ryan reached out to the boy's shaking hand.「We can't even pretend to understand all the pain you must have gone through back then, but you are with us now, and we all love you. And don't blame yourself for what happened to your mother since it's not your fault. I'm sure she would not want you to be tormented with this guilt and knowing you're under Master's care now, she'd be happy that you have found a place that you can call home.」

「Ryan nii chan…」Tears rolled down Yuusei's blushing cheek before he simply nodded.

「Ryan's right, Yuusei chan.」Kibadios ruffled the mutant hybrid's hair.「The moment you agreed to give me your life back in Lorian, you've cast away your past. Your mother, in a way, had sacrificed her life for you. Don't keep grieving the past and forget to live the life she granted to you.」

「Yuusei understood, Master.」The boy nodded.

「... But who's this Teran that man mistook you for?」Seeing that Yuusei had started to make peace with his past, Ren asked the obvious question.

「Yuusei don't know.」The mutant shook his head.「Yuusei never heard of him.」

「「「Teran?」」」Kibadios, Ryuu, and Yue asked, looking at one another. The hybrid gently raised the confused Yuusei up by his armpits as if he was a lost puppy, before looking at him from top to bottom.

「He looks nothing like him in this form…」Kibadios noted.「But I can see the resemblance if he's in his ogre form.」

「You're right.」Ryuu nodded in agreement.「How come we didn't notice this before?」

「They're eerily similar. It's… it's as if the author of this story was being a cheapskate, deciding not to commission artists to draw Teran and instead using Yuusei's ogre form as an input image to generate Teran's portrait on NovelAI.」Kibadios casually broke the fourth wall again.

「But if Yuusei looks just like Teran as you say, does it mean…」Yue turned to Kibadios. Although she stopped short of her sentence, but Kibadios could easily infer what she wanted to say: that Teran is Yuusei's biological father and that he had defiled Yuusei's mother at some time in the past.

「Who's this Teran, Master?」Rowan asked.「It seems like you three know who this Eugene guy was talking about.」

「Master?」Yuusei looked at his master, trying to find out the answer.

「There's a guy named Teran here, in Alsen. And he really looks like Yuusei when he's in his ogre form」Kibadios answered.「What's more… Teran is actually the former Captain of the 13th division and the one issued the request to kill Wei Shimin to the Hyakki Yagyo」

「「「What?」」」The group shouted in disbelief.

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「So, you're telling me, that Wei Shimin had really conquered the city of Ka'shinu?」Ectharen finally broke the long silence in the war room. Every participant in the meeting remained silent, trying to process the news that the Yves' group had just brought to them.

「'fraid so.」Erik leaning against the wall on the side of the room, simply nodded. 「That's why it took us so long to get here from the Great Mountain Range of Laymanas. By the time we finished with our contract work in the West and received the mission requested by our former captain over here」 Erik pointed at Teran.「We made our way here to meet him. We intended to make Ka'shinu one of our stops, but unfortunately, we passed by the city, we saw the great city of the Grassland burning, the city gates were completely destroyed and the personal flag of Wei Shimin was hanging all over the walls. Most of the demihuman settlements between Ka'shinu and this city were also sacked and razed. We had to carefully sneak past the Yinese troops undetected, which was the reason why we're late. Truth to be told, from what I have seen, I believe this city and what lay to the East of it, are the only parts of Monas Kye that are still relatively untouched by the Yin Empire, though I bet not for long, since Wei Shimin's main army will undoubtedly direct its wrath here. Fighting against both the forces of Hou Yi, which only camped like 50 miles to the East of the city, and Wei Shimin's main forces, I doubt this city stands a chance.」

「I've just come back from scouting out Hou Yi's army.」Teran jumped in.「There's no sign that they're preparing for any immediate assaults. Now that we have information that Erik brought us, I'm sure they're simply waiting for the main army to join them before trying to take this city a second time.」

「...Ka'shinu is an impregnable fortress built onto the slope of the dormant volcano on the edge of the Great Mountain Range. It has never been breached, ever since its founding. It was led by the Great Hero of Grasslander, Raen dono, who has never lost a battle… Yet, you're telling me that it has fallen to Wei Shimin's forces?」Kailos still could not believe what he was told.

「You can go there and check it out for yourself if you don't believe what I said is true.」Erik annoyingly suggested since Kailos was implying that he and his group were lying about the fall of Ka'shinu.

「... That's not my intention. I'm sorry if you felt as if I was doubting you, Erik dono.」Kailos denied. He indeed wanted to believe that such information was false and that Ka'shinu was still standing, but deep down, he knew better.

「The communication between our city and Ku'shinu was severed for months due to Hou Yi's blockade, still, we were hoping that Ku'shinu could repel the Yinese forces and come to our aid.」Ectharen explained to Erik.「But now, that hope is completely shattered and what's coming for us is a tsunami of Yinese troops instead.」

「It appears to me that the only way for us to survive this upcoming onslaught」Another voice among the council spoke up. 「is to carry out the plan proposed by Teran: To eliminate the Southern Subjugation forces by chopping off its head.」

「Wei Shimin.」said Ectharen.「But what are our chances?」

「Better than what we had anticipated, that's for sure.」The demihuman finally emerged from the shadow casted down by the long crimson drape, revealing himself to be an Yves. Though, unlike most other Yves, the young man possessed two distinct colors: green pupils on his right eyes and red pupils on his left eyes while his ears were rather pointy, an indication of elven blood flowing within him.「Did the current captain of the 12th division not bring with him a dragonkin that could rival one of the 12 Great Generals of the Yin Empire, the dragonkin Wei Ying herself. What's more, he was able to take on 5 Chimeras simultaneously, if what Kailos reported is to be believed. If we can carefully come up with a clever assassination plan, we may have a chance.」

「No way I will let my son take on such a dangerous mission!」Kailos protested.

「But did you forget he's the 12th captain, who is here specifically to eliminate Wei Shimin?」The Yves reminded Kailos.

「Wylan dono is right.」Uri, the vice captain of the 12th division and Kibadios' direct subordinate within Hyakki Yagyo, who was standing next to Teran while remaining silent for the entire meeting, suddenly interrupted the conversation.「Whether you like it or not, Kailos dono, the presence of the 12th division, which my boss, Kibadios, leads, is exactly for this purpose. One way or another, we will end Wei Shimin's life.」

「Why do I hear my name?」Kibadios brazenly walked into the meeting with his usual confident smile. Though such expression quickly disappeared once his eyes fixated onto Teran. Walking by his side was Yuusei, who was still in his shota beastman form. Unlike Kibadios, the young mutant was completely devoid of any expression and only dutifully accompanied his Master as he was asked.

「Kibadios? You have decided to join us?」Kailos asked.

「Yeah, since I heard Teran is here.」answered the hybrid. By now, Kibadios had also noticed Erik's group, who were all standing close to Teran on the other side of the room.

「Teran?」

「Yo boss! Good timing!」Uri warmly greeted the hybrid.「It seems like your dad is not onboard with the idea of us taking on Wei Shimin. Can you somehow convince him?」

「What do you mean he's not onboard?」Forgetting the business he was going to have with Teran, Kibadios turned to his father.

「It's just too dangerous!」Kailos explained.「You have no idea how terrifying Wei Shimin is, Kibadios. The chance of successfully assassinating him is less than 1%. How can I let you carry out this task? It's like giving you a death sentence.」

「Wasn't you the one who originally advocated for this mission, along with Teran?」Wylan calmly reminded the ogre.

「That…」Kailos was flustered. The happiness he felt when meeting with Kibadios had completely caused him to forget the main reason why his son had come to his city.「That was before I know Kibadios would be the Captain of the 12th division.」

「Kailos…」Teran wanted to say something, but he remained silent for he knew how his dear friend felt since had he been in Kailos's position, he would separately want to protect his newly reunited son too.

「That's irrelevant.」Erik coldly dismissed Kailos' argument.「As a member of Hyakki Yagyo, it doesn't matter who we are, what our backgrounds and histories are, we are to carry out the agreed upon mission, even if the odds are stacked against us. As the new captain of the 12th division, it's Kibadios' duty to lead the mission to assassinate Wei Shimin.」

「Sure, I don't mind.」Agreed Kibadios.「I have never said that I won't do it, haven't I?」The hybrid smirked at the mercenary Yves.

「As our captain, you can't even if you want to.」Erik smiled back at Kibadios, though imaginary sparks could be seen projecting from their gazes.

「Now now now!」Uri tried his best to break the tension between Erik and his boss.「I know you two have fought one another before, but we all are allies now, aren't we?」

「「Of course.」」Both agreed with a cold smile before Kibadios turned to Kailos.「Father, I know you have your concerns, but this is my decision. Beside, have some faith in your son!」Kibadios smiled.

「... I…」Kailos was still struggling to accept the idea.

「Now that it's been decided that the assassination plan is still on, let's discuss the next topic.」Wylan quickly brought the attention of the whole room back to him.

「Next topic?」Ectharen asked.

「Yes. Now that we're back against the corner, facing the unstoppable might of Wei Shimin's armies, do you know what we, as the last free Grasslanders, need?」The heterochromia Yves asked.

「What?」The lion beastman was unsure of the answer.

「A centralized leader.」Kibadios answered, depriving the Yves the chance to do so.「in a sense, a King. Am I wrong?」

「No, you're not, Young Lord of the House of the Horns. In fact, you're exactly right. 」Wylan smiled. 「The House of the Manes, House of the Eyes, and House of the Horns. The three great Houses had shared the duty of leading and protecting Alsen since the ages past but our authorities are all equal to one another. The leader of each of our Houses can only command the loyalties of their own House members. But now, we're in an unprecedented crisis that, without a centralized leader that we all can follow and rally around, I fear our disunity will be our undoing. Hence, I propose we are to reinstate the position of "The King," whose authority would reign over all of the Three Houses and the people of Alsen.」

「... But we have not had a "King" since the 6th crusade 700 years ago.」

「Yes, and if you recall, thanks to Jander the Uniter, the first King of Alsen, us Grasslanders were able to repel the 5th and 6th crusade, despite being hard-pressed from all sides.」Wylan reminded the beastman.「One could have said that the situation we're in now is 10 times more precarious.」

「...」The beastman thought for a moment.「I understand that we may really be in need for a King, but how can we choose one?」

「Much like how it was done 700 years ago, we will have the King Candidates take the Trial of Eor Dungeon.」answered Wylan.「After all, the people of Monas Kye believe in strength the most. That's what makes us resilient for thousands of years. I doubt they would willingly accept someone that we vote for on paper to be their "King". For them to rally around that person, they need to prove their strength and prowess. If that's the case, then what's better than the Trial of Eor Dungeon.」

「How would we decide on the Candidates, then?」Kailos asked.

「Obviously the candidates need to be from our three Great Houses, since I doubt the members of the proud Great Houses would accept some random person as their "King" and follow their orders voluntarily.」Wylan suggested.

「...」Kailos thought for a moment, before declaring「I, Kailos of the Houses of the Horns, agreed to the proposal. I nominate my son, Kibadios as a King Candidate!」

「Father?」Kibadios turned to look at Kailos. Since he had aimed to create his own Kingdom to fight against the Astrals, being nominated to be the King of "whatever-remain-of" Monas Kye was not a bad development, but he had quickly realized Kailos' intention in nominating him.

「I, Wylan of the Houses of the Eyes, nominate myself as a King Candidate.」The Yves followed Kailos' declaration.

「I, Ectharen of the House of the Manes, nominate myself as a King Candidate.」The beastman finally agreed.

「Now, Young Lord, do you accept your nomination?」Wylan smiled and asked the hybrid.

「...I do.」Kibadios nodded

「Woohoo.」Uri cheered.「Boss being a King Candidate? This is a nice development!」

「Master…」Yuusei looked at his master.

「...」Erik remained silent, though he too, understood why Kailos had nominated Kibadios instead of himself.「Tsk… so that's why he…」The scarred Yves clicked his tongue.

「Since we don't have any time to spare, I will make an announcement to the people of Alsen and any free folks in Monas Kye about this development. We will have the trial two days from now.」said Wylan.「Anyone oppose this?」

「「No.」」Both Kailos and Ectharen answered.

「Good.」Wylan nodded.

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「Kibadios, you don't mind I nominated you?」Kailos asked his son right after the meeting had adjourned.

「Of course not. Being a King does sound fun.」Kibadios grinned.「Though, I know why you're nominating me, Father.」

「... I see…」said the ogre.「I just can't let you risk your life on such a suicide mission, Kibadios. I was hoping that if you become our King, then maybe the others will rethink sending you on such a mission, given how important you would be to us as a rallying point.」

「You gave me too little credit, Father.」Kibadios shook his head.「Like I said, in the end, it's my decision whether to go on this mission or not, and I have chosen to do so. Even if I become the King, that would not change.」

「Kibadios…」

「Is that so?」Erik entered the conversation.「and here I thought you were trying to get out of the mission. Good thing to know our captain is not a scaredy cat.」

「Erik kun. Good to see you here.」Kibadios stuck his hand out.「I hope to work with you in this upcoming mission.」

「Likewise.」Erik reciprocated and shook the hybrid's hand.

「Wow, even when they're shaking hands, the sparks from their eyes are still fighting one another.」The mutant leopard beastman girl, Amaira, commented as she looked at both men.

「Come on, come on!」Uri wrapped his arms around Erik's and Kibadios' necks, pulling them closer.「We're now a team, guys. At least act like one.」

「Fine fine, stop rubbing your face onto me!」Erik annoyingly said while trying to pull away from Uri.

「You know these guys, Kibadios?」Kailos asked his son.

「Yeah, I met and fought them a while ago in the Vernys forest.」explained Kibadios.

「Really?」Surprised the ogre.

「Kailos.」Teran called out to his friend while slowly walking toward him.「I'm sorry… I didn't know this mission that I proposed would involve your son.」

「... It's not your fault.」

「Teran!」Now finished with his abrupt business regarding his mission and King Candidate, Kibadios' attention now switched back to the mutant ogre, which was the reason why he originally came to the meeting for.「We need to talk.」

「「「Huh?」 」 」All the people around the hybrid were confused.

「About?」Asked Teran, while studying the smol emotionless mutant hybrid standing next to Kibadios.

「Did you know someone named "Hana"?」

「How? How did you know…」Teran frowned.

「Isn't that…」Kailos quickly recognized the woman's name. .

Haden (AI):

He's not wearing clothes like this lol. He's now wearing a typical adventure clothes. This is just to show his scars. I had several images generated for Haden character, but this image was chosen solely because of the eyes. Since Haden has "Im-dead-inside" eyes so I think this fits. Too bad I had a plan for Haden so he will 100% not be include in Kibadios' harem. Though soon enough, I will have picture of another future member of Kibadios' harem posted... probably next chapter.

https://imgur.com/colYBZI

Wylan:

Artist: btaro732

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@btaro732

Pixiv ID: 3655808

Fun fact: I commissioned this drawing, hoping to use this character design as the bara member of Kibadios' harem. Though I like how he looks, he's not buffed enough + I hate his sideburn and too lazy to fix it myself, so I decided to use this design for this Wylan character.

https://imgur.com/fIIN8fW