Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 514: Time of Dogs and Wolves (2)

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“I mean it exactly as I said, Miss Teia. You need to be the bait to lure out the King of Wolves.”

Teia pressed her lips with her fingers, deep in thought.

It would be better for her to stay somewhere safe. Not just because of her injury. The lives and bloodlines of all racehorses were managed by the Empire. Because she had made history through her races, she was given a certain level of autonomy. But that didn’t include the freedom to recklessly get herself killed by a wolf.

She asked, as if to confirm whether I was serious.

“Me? You mean me?”

“Yes. You’re the only one who can outpace the King of Wolves in a race and take first place.”

The Empire was far away, but my persuasion was right here. Slightly rephrasing my words was enough to ignite her competitive spirit.

‘A race against the King of Wolves? That’s pretty exciting. And it’s for a cause, too. Most of all, the rule is simple—if I get caught, I die. How thrilling is that? Well, no matter who my opponent is, there’s no way I’ll lose!’

Even after making up her mind, Teia rocked her body slightly, pretending to hesitate.

“I could do it, but~. You know, I’m still recovering from my injury. I can’t run ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ for long?”

“What injury? You never could run long distances anyway.”

Teia flinched at the blunt remark and mumbled back.

“...Have you watched my races before?”

“I haven’t seen them personally, but it’s common knowledge that racehorses are fast but have poor stamina.”

“That’s not true for all of us.”

“No one watches long-distance races these days. The tempo is too slow, and there’s rarely an upset, so it’s boring.”

“Heh, you actually know your stuff?”

To be precise, the regressor knew. Racing? Like hell I’d know about that.

What kind of beast does a running contest like that? If you get tired just from sprinting a little, you get eaten.

Regardless of my thoughts, Teia, now in a good mood, bounced on her feet and responded.

“You’re right! As long as it’s not a long race, I can shake off anyone beautifully!”

“It’s fine even if you can’t. The only one who might step on your shadow is the King of Wolves. And Azzy won’t let you die at his hands.”

“Azzy?”

“The puppy. The King of Dogs.”

“Ohh. That’s a good name!”

If simplicity was a virtue, then that was as good as it got.

Anyway, with a big nod, Teia waved her hand and disappeared in an instant.

“Alright! Call me when you need me!”

Before I could even answer, she had already sprinted far into the distance. There was no stopping her.

Originally, I was supposed to pass my request through Count Sapien, and he would have called Teia.

But since I’d conveniently run into her on the way out, I had relayed the message myself.

This was better. Teia was too important to use as bait—Sapien might have hidden her away. The regressor seemed to assume she would naturally help him, probably because of their connection in a previous round.

Either way, the regressor had left communicating with Ende to me while planning the strategy. Considering his disastrous communication skills, it was a smart division of labor.

Though, honestly, I wasn’t sure if I could even explain his plan properly. If I wasn’t a mind reader, I wouldn’t have understood it at all.

I walked into the conference room, where Sapien and Grull were waiting. Grull half-rose from his seat and called out to me.

“Magician, you’re late.”

“Huh? I arrived on time.”

“The situation has changed. My scouts found the remains of hundreds of sheep bones.”

Having spent his whole life hunting on the Enger Plains, Grull knew beasts better than anyone.

Even when Orcma was ruling Ende and groaning under its weight, Grull had continued gathering intelligence through the warriors of the Beast Faction.

“There aren’t many beasts that store food like humans do. Especially not carnivorous ones. If the werewolves weren’t keeping those sheep as a moving food reserve, the wolf pack would have collapsed on its own.”

“So if they’ve emptied their food storage... that means they’re preparing for battle.”

“Exactly. By tomorrow, we’ll start seeing wolves in Ende. Today is practically our last day to prepare.”

I had thought the situation was urgent, but tomorrow? That was cutting it close.

“I want to hear your plan. I hope it’s better than the brutish strategies the officials have suggested.”

“Brutish...?”

Sapien looked shocked—as if he never expected to hear that from a beastman.

I wasn’t sure if my plan would meet Grull’s expectations, but I shared the regressor’s strategy with them.

“We’re going to break the ground.”

Last time.

That round was later than this one.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The King of Wolves had wandered longer, and more beastmen, unable to endure discrimination, had joined him. He was much stronger. The Holy Crown Church couldn’t stand by and watch, so they joined forces with the Principality to support Ende. In Ende, the dogs and wolves became symbols of civilization and savagery, waging a proxy war.

The regressor’s confidence came from having defeated the King of Wolves before.

Since he had done it once, he believed he could do it again.

Back then, it was a matter of survival. Every beastman in Ende united. But... by that point, sin had already spread. The wolves were stronger than expected. The casualties kept rising. When we were on the verge of annihilation, I flipped the board as a last resort.

As a regressor, he had the luxury of leaving the consequences to the next round.

His final, desperate gamble exceeded even my imagination.

I pushed Jizan’s power to its limits and shattered the land itself. It left scars on the earth like an abyss. That was the only way. With the ground collapsing beneath him, the King of Wolves was isolated and defeated. That’s how we barely regained peace.

But this time, we’re not just fighting and leaving. This time, we have to prepare for those who will continue to live here.

And yet, the regressor—who had to explain all this—would never manage to do so without slipping up.

There was no way he could skillfully explain something so grand without mentioning regression.

The regressor's explanation was vague and all over the place, but thanks to my mind-reading, I managed to reconstruct it properly. After delivering the entire outline, both Sapien and Grull asked if it was even possible.

Without a word, I demonstrated my earth magic.

I made it clear—this was just my own power, and Jizan, which commanded the power of the earth, possessed far greater strength. As I planted the belief in them, I handed over the detailed strategy.

Both Sapien and Grull accepted it.

It was clear now—because they were keeping each other in check, the city was actually functioning. I finally understood why you put more than one horse on a carriage. If left alone, they’d just turn their heads in whatever direction they wanted.

By the time I finished drafting documents and explaining everything thoroughly, it was already late afternoon. Now that Sapien and Grull had grasped the key points of the plan, they each set out to assemble their forces.

Should I go inside and get some rest, then? Tonight would be my last chance to get any sleep.

I returned to the mansion once again. The moment my footsteps echoed, Azzy rushed over, circling around me excitedly.

“Woof! Welcome back! Welcome back!”

Dogs really do have the best lives... or so I thought—until I noticed the bloodstains on Azzy’s front paws and tail.

She must have torn through the wolves that had infiltrated Ende for reconnaissance.

"You’ve been busy too, huh?"

"I’m back."

"Welcome home. How was it? Did Teia agree to help?"

"Yes. I was lucky enough to run into her directly and tell her myself. Now all that’s left is to wait."

I answered briefly and strode into the mansion. The regressor, glancing at Azzy, hesitated before trailing behind me.

‘I’m not imagining it. There’s something sharp in the air. Hughes seems irritated about something.’

What the hell?

I could understand Azzy reacting like this, but even the regressor?

Was he actually paying attention to my mood? The same lunatic who had been rampaging around without a care all this time?

‘Hughes has actually been helping things move smoothly for once. So what’s the problem?’

That was the problem.

The fact that I had been helping things move smoothly.

But there was no way to explain it, so what the hell was I supposed to do about it—

‘Wait, is he on his period?’

Like hell I am!

I whipped around, and the regressor, seeing my expression, only became more convinced of his theory.

‘Yep. No doubt about it. He’s in some kind of physiological bad mood. Not a real period, obviously, since he’s a guy, but—’

Change the order of your thoughts! You nearly gave me a heart attack!

Was he mistaking my gender, or did he actually believe men went through the same kind of cycle?

I felt like an idiot for even considering the question.

This kind of thinking—where the conclusion comes first and the logic follows—was terrifying.

I glared at the regressor.

"What?"

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

He hesitated slightly before finally speaking up.

"Hughes, is something bothering you lately?"

"Do I look like something’s bothering me?"

"Yeah. Everything is going well, but you seem less happy than when things were falling apart."

"The way you say that makes it sound like I’m some lunatic who enjoys chaos and destruction."

"That’s exactly what you are!"

...This bastard.

I wanted to flick him on the forehead, but he’d just dodge and counter with Heavenly Reversal.

Tch. I held back and forced down my twitching right hand.

"It’s just... something I said while convincing Grull is bothering me."

"Like what?"

I had told Grull—if he wanted glory, he should make it himself. Instead of giving the pig beastmen a chance and then feeling disappointed when they failed, he should throw himself into the mud and carve out his own path to glory.

That applied to me too.

Of course, I had no interest in human glory. My beliefs were firm—humans were nothing more than beasts.

Even if we overthrew the king of beasts and established a new order, we would still be nothing more than beasts.

I still hadn’t changed my mind on that.

But to keep my promise to Azzy, I had acted just like Grull. I had personally intervened to steer Ende toward a more ideal outcome.

It had only been possible because individuals in the city wanted to protect it... but in the end, it was me who had orchestrated everything.

The only reason I could do that was because I was a beast who had lost his throne.

Tch.

And now, because of that, I no longer had any right to complain about being dethroned.

"Every word I said to him felt like I was talking to myself. It was irritating, to the point of pissing me off. Now I wonder if the people who listened to me felt the same way."

Did he even understand what I was saying?

The regressor just nodded.

"Yeah. Your way of talking is pretty annoying."

"Thanks. That was really comforting."

"That’s annoying too!"

The regressor, suddenly frustrated, clicked his tongue before softening his expression.

"But whatever. As long as the results are good, who cares? Why overthink it?"

"Miss Shei, don’t you think you underthink things?"

"Didn’t you say humans are just beasts? Then there’s no need to overthink anything."

"You think beasts don’t think?"

"Woof! I don’t think at all!"

"There you have it."

With Azzy’s support, the regressor struck a wise-looking pose, as if he were some enlightened sage.

"The future isn’t something you can solve by thinking too hard about it. Even if you give it your all and use every method possible, most things still don’t go your way. Circumstances keep changing, and just when you think you’ve done well, everything falls apart at the last second. The only thing I can do is make choices right now and hope for the best."

Hearing that from him felt strange.

He was closer to a saint than anyone.

Well, not exactly like a saint. Since he was a regressor, there was a clear difference between him and a prophet.

The biggest difference was that he had infinite chances.

That was the dividing line between a regressor and a saint.

...But he was right.

When had I ever spent time worrying about things like this?

Might as well focus on the wind I could feel right now.

"Miss Shei, don’t start celebrating too soon. The results aren’t out yet."

"Then quit whining and go get some sleep so we can have an even better tomorrow."

"And you’re the one keeping me from sleeping."

"Don’t be annoying and stop arguing!"

The regressor snapped in irritation.