Chapter 489: Demihuman Territory

The girls and I walked through the streets of Fuji. Compared to the urban cities we were used to in Human territories, these rural roads were quite nice. Rather than a metropolitan area, these parts reminded me more of a countryside village, with old stone buildings and food stalls in the streets. It was similar to the ice elves’ village I had been to a while back in the sense that there were children running around in the streets and everyone looked to have smiles on their faces, creating a jolly atmosphere that raised the spirits of us as well.

“What a nice place…” Feng Mian remarked with a gentle smile on her face as she looked on warmly at the laughing and playing children.

“… You like kids?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Feng Mian nodded, then giggled in embarrassment and scratched her blushed cheeks.

“Ehehe… well, I’ve always wanted to have one of my own, to be honest… w-what about you, Xuan Kai? Do you, um… think we could… have a child, anytime soon?”

“H-Huh? Uh…” Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. “W-Well, I think it’s too early for us… we’re still young, y’know? There are still many places in the world to explore. Having a kid now would kind of drag us down, don’t you think?”

“Hm… I see, that’s fair,” Feng Mian said after some thought. “But when we do have a baby together… I’d like it to be a girl. How about you?”

“Hm… a daughter, huh? Yeah, I would rather have a daughter over a son as well,” I said. “They’re more caring towards their parents, most of the time.”

“Fufu~ I agree,” Ling Xin said, joining in. “I would rather have a daughter than a son. How about the rest of you?”

All the girls ended up preferring daughter over son, which surprised me a bit.

“Seriously? None of you want to have a son…?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Well it’s not that we don’t want to have a son, per se,” Qing Yue corrected. “It’s just that we prefer having a son. I feel we can be closer to daughters since we’re the same gender. There are some things a girl can’t tell anyone except another girl, you know?”

“Hm, I see…”

“Back to the matter at hand…” Obsidia interrupted. “Are we continuing on towards the Yamanashi Prefecture tonight, or waiting until tomorrow morning?”

“Let’s wait until tomorrow,” I said, then glanced at Mei Gui. “I’m sure everyone’s tired after being stuck on a boat all day, what with that storm and all. Let’s just rest up at an inn for tonight.”

“Master, you needn’t be concerned over me,” Mei Gui hurriedly said, biting her bottom lip. “I am perfectly fine to continue goi-“

“No, you’re not,” Feng Mian cut in, silencing her with a pat on the back, older-sister style. “Everyone has weaknesses, even Xuan Kai. If your weakness is sea travel, then so be it. There’s no reason to pretend you’re okay when you’re not.”

“…” Mei Gui didn’t say anything in response to this and instead looked down at the ground as if blaming herself, and I sighed before pulling her close for an embrace.

“Listen up, Mei Gui. I don’t want a perfect girl by my side. I don’t want someone who is always strong, always invincible, and is extremely skilled at anything they do. A person with no weaknesses is a person with no identity. Remember that. So, if you cherish the identity I gave you, then cherish your weaknesses as well. Understand?”

“Master…” Mei Gui looked up at me with enlightened eyes, and I smiled.

“Now, let’s rest. And always keep in mind—without your weaknesses that are part of you, you are not my Mei Gui.”

*****

We soon found a tavern and settled in for the night. The receptionist was troubled to see our group of one man and twelve girls excluding Lorelei, but questioning customers was rude, so she didn’t say anything about it. I did feel numerous stares staring at us from the seats, though, where many beastfolk were drinking beer and partying. Some held envy for me, some held curiosity, and others simply held gazes of hate since we looked mostly human with the exception of Amane.

It is common knowledge that humans and demihumans do not have a great relationship, ever since the ancient times. It is said that this land was once attached to mainland Human Territory, but was later cut off by a human master who specialized in Earth Magic due to the hate towards the demihumans. Naturally, the demihumans weren’t happy about this. The vast land that they once shared, all those natural resources, were now gone, and they had been cast away to this small island. This eventually grew into hate, and over the years, many wars between humans and demihumans occured on the eastern front of the mainland.

Each time, the battle would result in a tie. The demihumans simply did not have the population to defeat the humans in an all-out war, but they were stubborn. And so, the conflict continued, until the establishment of the IMF and the Council of Arcanity, which essentially brought world peace. However, as evidently seen here, just because the wars stopped, the resentment between the two races were still quite prominent.

Those born in the Fortress and the mainland, both of which accepted all races nowadays, didn’t feel the same way as those natively from Demihuman Territory, whose ancestors had been exiled. That feeling was only natural, and if I had to say, the humans were at fault here. Still, all that was history now. In recent years, the hate between the two races have diminished, especially with more and more humans coming to Demihuman Territory and more and more demihumans moving to the mainland Human Territory.

Regardless, that was none of my concern. After paying the front counter a hefty sum that was literally nothing to me, I managed to get them to move a couple of beds to one singular room and push them together, since the girls insisted on all of us sleeping on the same bed. Now, personally, I would’ve liked to save that hassle, but then again, this is better for the tavern as well, since all of us in the same room meant more space for them to accommodate more customers.

In any case, after taking turns showering, the girls and I fell asleep. Thankfully, none of them tried anything with me, since they were all aware we would need stamina for tomorrow, and once we started doing that, we wouldn’t stop until we were all exhausted.

*****

– The Next Morning –

While the rest of us were busy getting ready for the day, Zhao Xiuying, who had woken up a full hour before the rest of us, pushed the blinds to one side and opened the windows in our tavern room, then reached her hand out to test the air.

“Sun, check. Wind, check. White clouds, check. Temperature, adequate. Mm, it seems, today, is a, bad day.”

“Huh…?” Flaria walked up beside her and arched an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“Daily, routine,” Xiuying responded and drew her hand back in and shut the window without even looking at her. But at least she was talking now, more than before. That was progress.

“Ooh, I see,” Flaria said, nodding and mimicking me with the ‘I see’ part. “But why is it a bad day? I’d say the day’s pretty good… oh, but it’d be even better if it was, like, 100 degrees hotter. Mm, yes, I see why you called it a bad day now…”

Flaria murmured to herself as she analyzed why this temperature was far too cool for a phoenix, but Xiuying’s reason was completely different.

“… I like, rain.”

“Huh…?”

“A rainy, day, is a, good day.”

Flaria’s eyes widened. “Ohhh, you’re a rain-lover, huh? Me? I hate it. Rain sucks, and drenches my wings. Ugh. Oh, but isn’t that dumb lizard an aqua dragon or something? Heh, she probably likes rain too.”

“Excuse me, flying chicken? What did you just call me?” A deep female voice suddenly said from behind the two, and Flaria spun to see Obsidia glaring at her.

“Oh, look, it’s the aqua lizard! Hey, hey, you like rain, right?”

“… Hmph. Some rain would do you good, burning bird. It may help cool that head of yours a bit so you can actually use it for once.”

“H-Huh?!” Flaria pointed at Obsidia in rage. “S-Shut it, scaly! I’ll burn you to death!”

“You can try, little girl,” Obsidia snarled. “Let’s see if your flaming feathers are able to do anything against my fire-resistant scales.”

“Grr…”

“Hmph…”

The two glared at one another eye-to-eye, highlighting the stark difference in height. However, since Obsidia was arguing with said ‘little girl’, she was hardly better in terms of maturity.

Having witnessed this entire scene that I was used to by now, I sighed deeply.

“So, like, we’re all waiting for you three down below. Feel free to stay here forever if you’d like, but I know for a fact that you definitely don’t want to miss breakfast, Flaria.”

“Tch… we’re not done, lizard.”

“Fine by me, two-wings.”

“You have two wings too!”

“Mine cannot be classified as the same thing as yours. That would be a disgrac-“

“Yeah, to me!”

“—To m-“

“Okay, enough!” I roared, slamming the wall with my fist and scaring both of them. “… Don’t make me force you.”

“A-Ahem… very well,” Obsidia said after clearing her throat and walked past me, unable to meet my terrifying gaze. Flaria too looked down at the ground when she brushed past me, and once they finally went downstairs to where the other girls were, I sighed.

“C’mon, Xiuying. Let’s go.”

“… Those two, are interesting,” she said curiously.

I followed the two mythical beasts in their human forms with my eyes, then smirked.

“… Yeah. They really are, huh?”