"Somewhere to go is good enough."
Takumi was slightly troubled; feeding so many people would be no easy task. After confirming their next steps, he swapped out his tattered clothes. Though the beastkin village was in ruins, scattered belongings could still be found—among them, adult men's clothing. Takumi wasn't picky; anything was better than his current rags.
Once changed, Takumi began organizing the black-clad corpses into a pile, setting them ablaze. The flames danced, and the beastkin girls stood solemnly nearby. Unsure how to comfort them, Takumi lightly patted their heads, as if soothing small animals.
Surprisingly, this worked. The girls, completely unresistant to head pats, soon let out contented hums, much like pets being stroked.
"Takumi-sama, the room is ready for you."
Kōyō and two other girls had tidied up a relatively intact wooden house—the only one in the village still suitable for living.
"And what about you?" Takumi asked, noticing that Kōyō didn't intend to join him inside.
"We beastkin are hardy; any place will do for us to rest."
Takumi looked at the girls. They seemed unperturbed by Kōyō's arrangement. The beastkin values were clearly different from his own. They were incredibly straightforward. Takumi had saved their lives and avenged them. According to beastkin tradition, this meant they owed him unconditional obedience.
Food was Takumi's to eat first. Shelter was Takumi's to take first. Even if he asked them to share his bed—excluding the youngest girls—they wouldn't refuse. This wasn't submission to power but an expression of gratitude, a way of repaying the debt they felt they owed him.
"Come inside," Takumi said firmly, leaving no room for refusal. "That's an order."
Though their time together had been short, Takumi already understood the beastkin's nature. They didn't bow to brute force. But if the strength was their own leader's, they revered it.
Like a wolf pack, with its alpha leading the way, the others naturally followed.
"Yes," Kōyō replied, not daring to defy him. She began guiding the children inside to rest.
Perhaps it was the shock of the evening's events, or their lack of a sense of security, but the girls clustered close to Takumi. Despite the spacious room, the dozen or so girls crowded around him. Even when sleeping directly on the floor, they refused to stay far from him.
They had lost everything—home, family—in a single night. Only by staying near Takumi did they feel safe.
Thus, in the small room, the fluffy-eared beastkin girls huddled around Takumi. Breathing in his scent, they drifted into peaceful slumber. Looking at the scene, Takumi, a solitary traveler in a foreign world, felt a rare sense of warmth.
It wasn't polite to say it, but the beastkin girls were truly wonderful—soft bodies, chubby bellies, and tails smoother than the finest silk. Occasionally, when Takumi's pats hit the right spot, their ears would twitch playfully, adding to their charm.
"Kōyō, do you know who those people were?" Takumi asked quietly, noticing Kōyō was also awake. He hoped to gather more information about this world.
"Sorry, Takumi-sama."
Kōyō shook her head. "I've never seen them before."
"Were they bandits from the mountains?"
"I don't think so."
Kōyō explained that the black-clad attackers were clearly human. However, this was beastkin territory, and any local bandits should have been beastkin as well.
"Humans and beastkin…"
Takumi sat cross-legged on the floor. On either side of him lay a cat-girl: one named Tsubaki, the first he'd rescued, and the other her sister, Suzu. A black tail and a white tail rested on Takumi's lap, intertwining unconsciously, creating an adorable sight.
"Humans invading beastkin territory and slaughtering your village… Could it be a nearby human nation preparing to attack?"
Though his reasoning was sound, Takumi lacked key information, leaving his conclusions far off the mark.
"Takumi-sama, the only nation near the beastkin empire is the elven empire."
Kōyō found Takumi's logical analysis understandable, though his conclusions puzzled her. The beastkin and elven empires bordered each other in the northern continent. To the south, the human kingdom of Midgard lay isolated by steep mountains. With little contact between north and south, Midgard was known for its peaceful, development-focused ruler and citizens, making them unlikely to launch such an attack.
"Elves?"
Takumi didn't hide his ignorance. "I come from a distant land. I don't know much about the local geography."
"Well, it seems I can't make sense of this. I'm just not knowledgeable enough."
"It's not your fault," Takumi reassured her, giving her head a gentle pat. Though Kōyō appeared mature, she too couldn't resist the comfort of a head pat.
"When dawn comes, I'll take you to the fox village. Don't worry about these children. If they're accepted, great. If not, I'll find another solution."
Kōyō was moved to tears. The silver-haired fox girl bowed deeply, her voice choked with emotion. "Thank you so much!"
Takumi had saved them, avenged their fallen, and now was even escorting them to safety. For someone of Takumi's power to go to such lengths, it spoke volumes of his kindness and sense of justice. To Kōyō, Takumi was like a beacon of hope piercing her despair.
Oddly enough, Kōyō even felt it might not be so bad if the fox village refused them. Rather than staying there, she preferred to serve at Takumi's side, repaying his lifesaving kindness.
"Rest now," Takumi suggested, motioning for Kōyō to lie beside him. "If the fox village won't take you in, I'll find another place for you."
A group of cute, obedient beastkin girls, both soft and endearing—living among them seemed like a dream come true. Takumi, having no fixed abode in this world, thought settling down with them wasn't a bad idea.
"Okay."
Touched, Kōyō snuggled up beside him, soothed by his presence.
By noon the next day, the sky was clear and bright. The flames had long died out, leaving behind charred ruins and floating ash.
Takumi walked through the snow, a procession of beastkin girls trailing behind. They carried travel bundles filled with food and clothing salvaged from intact houses.
"Let's go."
With a final glance at the scorched earth, Takumi led the group away from their childhood home. Among them, only Kōyō had been to the fox village. She walked at the front, guiding Takumi. Thanks to Takumi's promise, Kōyō felt more at ease.
Not that Takumi was merely accommodating the beastkin girls. He'd been searching for a village to settle in himself. Whether it was the fox village or another didn't matter much. If the fox village accepted them, Takumi could settle there too. It would provide a safe place for the girls, protect them from harm, and give Takumi a peaceful environment to study his abilities and gather information.
"Kōyō, do you know where we are?" Takumi asked, trying to spark some conversation to pass the time.
"Where we are?" Kōyō looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Like our geographical location. This is beastkin territory, and nearby are the elven empire and a kingdom. Anything along those lines."
When Takumi introduced himself, he claimed to be a traveler from overseas who had gotten lost in the mountains and ended up near their village.
"Hmm… We're in the southern part of the beastkin empire."
Kōyō, who had grown up in the beastkin nation, knew little about the outside world. She could only share what she knew. "There are two large villages nearby and several smaller ones. Our village, Mistwood, is one of the smaller ones."
"And the fox village you mentioned?"
"It's slightly larger than Mistwood, but not by much."
From Kōyō's description, Takumi formed a rough idea of the fox village's scale. It wasn't much bigger than Mistwood. He'd imagined the fox village as a more substantial refuge, only to find it wasn't significantly larger.
"What determines whether a village is large or small? Population?"
"Population is one factor. More importantly, it's the village's strength," Kōyō explained. "Villages with fewer than 1,000 people are considered small. Several small villages together form a tribe."
Large villages, then, were the strongest in a tribe. Before the black-clad attackers came, Kōyō's father had already submitted Mistwood to the eastern large village.
"If that's the case, why not take refuge in the eastern large village?"
Takumi had a hunch the attackers wouldn't stop. They were bound to resurface and cause more trouble. The fox village wasn't much larger than Mistwood. If the attackers could destroy Mistwood, could the fox village truly be safe?
After spending the night with the beastkin girls, Takumi had grown fond of them. If he saved them only for them to face danger again tomorrow, it would all be for nothing.
Takumi shared his concerns with Kōyō. The fox-eared girl hesitated; Takumi's worries seemed valid. The attackers weren't ordinary bandits. Their assault on Mistwood had to be part of a bigger scheme.
"The fox village should be safe," Kōyō said. "Recently, I heard my father say that the fox village and the wolf village formed an alliance."
"The foxes have wisdom, the wolves have strength. Together, they're strong enough that even a large village wouldn't attack lightly. When the eastern large village tried to recruit them, they remained neutral, siding with neither."
"Wait," Takumi interrupted, suddenly struck by a thought. "They chose neutrality?"
From Kōyō's information, two massive villages dominated the surrounding mountains, each with populations exceeding 100,000. These large villages pressured nearby settlements to join their side. Mistwood, being closer to the eastern large village, had no choice but to align with them. The fox and wolf villages, however, stayed neutral, refusing to pick a side.
'Something's off,' Takumi thought, considering a possibility. 'Could this lead to inter-tribal conflict?'
Takumi suspected the attackers' true goal wasn't Mistwood itself. Mistwood was just a spark. Their real aim might be to ignite a war between the eastern and western factions. If the east assumed the west was behind the attack, open conflict would be inevitable. In such a war, the neutral fox-wolf alliance would likely be crushed.
'Let's take it one step at a time,' Takumi decided. He didn't share these thoughts with Kōyō, choosing instead to gather more information and see how things unfolded.
'No matter what, I need more intelligence about this world.'
If the fox village was as wise as its reputation suggested, it would have valuable information. Even if danger arose, Takumi felt confident in his ability to protect himself.
After his earlier battle, Takumi had a better grasp of his strength. He was exceptionally powerful. His SR-level magic growth and control were far more formidable than their rarity indicated.
When he asked Kōyō for her impression of his strength, she replied, "I've never seen anyone as strong as you."
Though Kōyō's perspective was limited, she knew enough to recognize Takumi's power. He had effortlessly wiped out the attackers who had devastated Mistwood. Among all the eastern and western tribes, she had never heard of anyone like him.
'If it comes to that, I'll fight my way through!'
Clenching his fists, Takumi felt the surge of magic within him. His confidence was unshaken.