Human town、Beast people’s prison「I see……」
After they received their prepayment, these two left the Goldberg Company, while holding a small bag filled with gold coins in their hand.
「Hey, nii-san. Now that we handed them the clothes, do you not fear that they run away with them? 」
「Hmm?…… I don’t give them a reason to do that…… but if they do it, then, at that time, I’ll use a more direct way to collect the beast people instead of such a roundabout way.」
「Di…… direct?」
「I’ll transform into a dragon, step on the castle gate and shout that I want all beast people, elves, dwarves, food, and clothes. Maybe add a little roar? 」
「Wow……」
「While I am at it, I can make Ed of the company we visited a wanted man.」
「Ugh…… Nii-san is nasty……」
「It’s a joke. I don’t plan to use flashy movements and stand out. Besides, doing that will be fairly troublesome and may become a difficult story. It could lead to a small war with the humans……」
「No! Stop it! 」
「O……Okay.」
Ferris glared at Georg with a body full of anger.
「Well, Ed will also imagine something like that. If I was a human being, everything would end with killing me. However, unfortunately, I’m a Dragunir. When someone has a disposition appropriate for a merchant and he shouldn’t unskillful opposing me, having a friendly connection with me is more likely to be profitable. On the other hand, if my business partner doesn’t understand this and is opposing me, it’s rather easy to deal with this.」
「…… As usual, it’s difficult for me to think like nii-san.」
「That’s the difference between experience and knowledge. You will someday understand this too.」
「I hope so……」
This inappropriate conversation disappears in the hustle and bustle of the main street. The population of this town is unknown, but it should be thousands or even ten thousand people.
「However……」
Georg frowns suddenly.
「Even though I expected this…… That beast people can be bought for money……」
「Yes……」
If one looks behind the ears and tails, they looks are very close to humans, but they are still traded for money. There is no room to question the intentions of them, handing them to each other. They are treated like objects. They are not doubting this practice, it’s handled as a fact.
「…… Disgusting.」
「……………」
What is Ferris thinking? She says nothing, but has a sad expression on her face.
「I thought these things were limited to the borders, like that village. Apparently, it is not.」
「……Yeah.」
All the people on the street are full of vigor, smiling or running busily. They seem to enjoy their lives.
But on the other hand, the life and death of others are insignificant for them. There are people who live day by day, frightened and not allowed to do anything or live by their own free will. And they probably are not even recognizing them as proper living beings.
Here is surely a good town to live for humans.
But for people, who are referred to as demi-humans, it is a prison where they are receiving eternal torment. The true h.e.l.l on earth.
「…… For now, it is truly an era, where only humans can enjoy peace.」
「…… That is the case.」
「When will it be? If you put your mind to it, you can do it; If you do not, you cannot — that is true for all things. When something cannot be done, you are the one to blame for not putting your heart into it, right? 」
「……?」
「It’s a proverb. It says, that just because no one does it, it isn’t impossible. Until you tried, you can’t know if it is possible. Do you know? If you failed, and ended it with failure, you are a failure. Failure and even more repeated failure and finally succeeding is success.
「Failure…… success…….」
「So, while we do things by trial and error from now on, until we finished what we have to do, failure will accompany us. At any rate, until now it would be common sense to pick a fight. Much more, even Ferris and I, much less the beast people, elves, dwarves or maybe yet unseen races could think about making a country. Therefore, since everyone started from zero, it is impossible not to fail. However, even so, we’ll stack up experience by failure and form our culture in the country we’ll make. I want to believe so; no, I believe so.」
Actually, it won’t be so easy. When the scale of Georg project reaches a certain point, the upcoming crisis may be noticed by some human with an abnormal sense. At that time, many problems will occur.
Humans will not approve of human rights for demi-humans. The country won’t be approved, neither the culture nor history, much less the ownership of land.
It is easy for Georg to shut them up by force. But this will never lead to a fundamental solution.
When another intellectual race, besides humans, tried to fight humans equally, Georg’s existence can become troublesome. Demi-humans must gain their rights by their own power. It wouldn’t make sense to end right at the beginning, when Georg left the world.
「…… It’s a long way. It’s far and wide, but we might migrate to the other continent across the sea.」
「…… Yeah.」
「I can to form and mold them, but aiming ahead of that, as soon as the nation is formed, it is up to people like Ferris. Though I am going to advocate hegemony on this continent, aiming toward harmony with the humans, or at least be free of interference, but it isn’t my intention there, you don’t have to think like me, do you understand?」
「Yeah…… I see. There is no meaning to it if we don’t build it with our own hands.」
「Oh, well. That’s far in the future. Let’s not count our chickens before they are hatched. But if this became the reality, then……」
He murmured something about dying in peace.
「Nii-san…… It’ll be alright. I wouldn’t be there at that time. The descendants of me and the other people, wouldn’t want to let you die with regrets. They will be fine.」
「…… I think I heard something like that before? 」
「Is that so?」
They laughed together and the melancholic feeling from before was gone.
Only the bright future they were talking about and will build on their own.