Chapter 11

※Third-person perspective.

After two interludes, we will move on to the next chapter.

I will also organize the synopsis and tags.

I am concerned about the reactions, but I would like to include third-person perspectives without disrupting the overall atmosphere.

Today, the guild is bustling with various races.

Sitting at the counter is a young man with deep blue hair.

If you look closely at the queue, you can see that the majority are beastmen.

Beastmen have a lower social status compared to humans.

Their lives are often undervalued and not prosperous.

Despite this, the man at the counter is well-respected by the beastmen.

His words have a greater impact on those around him than he realizes, but he is unaware of this.

Beastmen were once treated like slaves.

Compared to before the last Dark Age, their situation has improved.

It took a long history to reach this point, but since the beastmen's civilization did not develop for a long time, their records can only be found in books written by humans.

Beastmen specialize in various fields, each developing uniquely, and they never formed a cohesive group like humans. They engage in interspecies combat and serious territorial disputes.

Humans, though not as physically strong as beastmen, maintained a long civilization, built a solid social foundation, and developed the economy.

They gradually expanded their living areas and increased their numbers, while the beastmen were preoccupied with territorial disputes.

Before long, a system was established where powerful beastmen were employed by humans.

When trying to integrate into society, beastmen were inevitably bound by the rules created by humans, but many still sought prosperity.

This system was only recently reevaluated in the long history.

About five years ago, a large number of monsters appeared and besieged the city.

This event is known in this world as the Dark Age.

The Dark Ages have occurred multiple times, and each time, people have united across nations to protect their land.

The Dark Age five years ago was particularly severe.

Every day, people were threatened by monsters, and the days of battle continued.

It was called the "Year of Fimbul" and the scars of that time still remain.

At that time, the Earl of Essex gathered the beastmen and, with his wisdom and courage, ended the long Dark Age.

He became known as the Lion King.

Thanks to the Earl of Essex, the existence of beastmen was reevaluated, and the number of discriminatory humans seemed to decrease.

However, deep-seated discrimination is not easily eradicated.

In such a world, the guild clerk at the counter, who bears the name of Essex, was a special presence for the beastmen.

Everyone knows that he is not related by blood to the Earl of Essex.

They also know that he dislikes being overly revered or causing a fuss because he is a relative of the hero.

However, rumors cannot be stopped.

He does not boast about being related to a hero and treats all users equally, whether they are beastmen or not.

In reality, his polite and smiling demeanor is due to his Japanese nature, which he cannot shake even after reincarnation. Additionally, growing up in a castle surrounded by various races, including the werewolf Nigel, has made him free from any discriminatory attitudes towards beastmen, though the guild users are unaware of this.

He tries to be an ordinary, kind-hearted guild clerk, but he is not as ordinary as he thinks.

He has also helped those who were undervalued and underpaid by commercial guilds because they were beastmen.

Mixed-race parties often fight due to racial differences.

He understands the characteristics of various races and casually offers advice, preventing many party dissolutions.

No one knows about his true "Appraiser" skill, but many have blossomed thanks to his advice.

Muss, a fellow guild clerk, is one of them.

Until a year ago, Muss was just a young beastwoman. Now, she has acquired skills and works as a full-time guild clerk.

The beastmen think that the Earl of Essex also believes in meritocracy.

When they hear his name, they first treat him specially. Then, as they experience his work and attitude, their good impression grows.

Hearing true stories about him from senior guild users, they come to respect him even more.

Younger ones look up to him like an older brother, and those with a long relationship treat him like a well-behaved younger brother.

Seeing him kick away the occasional foolish ex-knight, they applaud him in their hearts, and if anyone tries to belittle him because he is at the counter, he will have a serious talk with them.

Of course, he does not want this to become public knowledge.

He genuinely thinks about them, who risk their lives every day, more seriously than anyone else.

The beastmen truly believe this.

It seems that today, someone has mocked and made a move on him.

To compensate for their weak position, the beastmen have their own network.

The rumors about the unpleasant duo spread quickly, and the beastmen secretly begin to act to protect him, who bears the name of Essex.

2015/01/10 Revised