Angre and Katerina stood facing each other in the center of the arena, the young man was carefully observing his opponent, especially the furry ears on her head. Katerina, on the other hand, seemed to be sniffing something, or at least attempting to sniff something, though without any success.
"So the rumors were true. A friend told me before I left for this tournament, but to think that one of the last members of the lynx beastkin is now serving as a maid to the elven queen of Yggdora," said Angre, curiosity clear in his voice.
Katerina's expression remained calm, yet her voice carried an icy edge. "I owe everything to Queen Albaria, so I hope you're not implying that the fact that I serve as her personal maid is somehow an insult to all beastkin."
Angre's eyes widened for a brief moment before he burst into a wild laugh and said, "Don't worry, that wasn't my intention at all. Honestly, it sounds like an amazing job. I saw her earlier in the cafeteria during the break. I'd gladly give up being a hunter if I could be the personal butler of a woman like that. Her personality seemed exactly my type, and above all, her body was absolutely incredible," he added in a joyful yet wild tone.
"I apologize if the question sounds a bit crude, but I still have much to learn about this world's history. What you just said—was that young beastman telling the truth? Katerina is truly one of the last remaining members of her race?" asked Caesar.
Lucas immediately straightened when he heard the question. It was the first time he had heard about that Katerina might be one of the last of her kind. She rarely spoke about herself, and considering how she usually behaved, such an idea had never even crossed his mind.
"Do not worry, Hero Caesar, it is natural that you wouldn't know. Since this is a relatively recent event, it appears in almost no history books, and considering that it has nothing to do with your mission, it is normal that no one mentioned it during your preparations," Sequoria explained gently before her voice darkened, becoming far more somber and serious.
"It all happened about thirty years ago, when Katerina was still a child and lived in the well-known village of Felianta. It was one of the few beastkin villages that had never joined any alliance with others and the only village in the world composed solely of lynx beastkin." Sequria started.
" You might be wondering how they managed to defend themselves against other countries intent on conquering them if they were just a single isolated village. There were two reasons. The first was its location. It sat deep within a massive, cold, and dense taiga far in the northern reaches of the continent, making it almost impossible to approach with large armies. The second reason was their people's magic. The lynx beastmen were renowned for extremely refined mana control, making them exceptional mages and, through mastery of the physical enhancement spell, fearsome even i close-quarters combat. In essence, every villager—even those who did not specialize in fighting—was stronger than the average soldier from most kingdoms across the continent. The village earned the nickname 'the cold end', as countless military expeditions ended in failure when attempting to conquer it. But without warning, it was completely destroyed along with its entire population in a single tragic night thirty years ago."
"How could such a well-defended village be wiped out overnight? From what you described, Lady Sequoria, they were experts in defending themselves from other nations. Surely they could fight even against enemies with superior numbers. Conquering that village should not have been something achievable in a single night," Caesar said, intrigued by the story.
"No, it was not an army that burned the village of Felianta to the ground, but a small group of only seven people..." Sequoria replied, tension sharpening her voice.
Caesar's and Lucas's eyes widened. "Only seven people!?" Caesar exclaimed in surprise, although his tone still carried the poise of royalty and a deepening interest.
"Yes, only seven people…" Sequoria paused for a couple of seconds and then asked "Hero Caesar, since this remains a problem within the kingdom of Leore, I imagine you were already informed that there are still nobles who, despite it now being illegal in nearly every country on the continent, are willing to pay enormous sums to collect the ears and tails of beastkin?"
Caesar nodded.
This was something Sequoria had already taught Lucas: since ancient times, the tails and ears of beastmen had been considered precious and rare objects, rumored to grant various beneficial effects depending on the type one carried. For this reason, throughout ancient eras, beastmen were hunted by a large part of the other species living across the continent. However, for centuries now, it had been understood that these widespread beliefs were entirely false, so the practice of hunting and selling beastmen and their body parts—already frowned upon by much of the population even back then—became completely illegal in nearly every country of the continent. But even that did not stop certain collectors, merchants, or wandering mercenary groups from continuing this horrific and revolting practice illegally and relentlessly.
"Katerina's village was destroyed for exactly that reason. Every corpse recovered had both its tail and ears cut off. Since Felianta was extremely difficult to reach and its people almost never left it, the tails of lynx beastkin reached absurdly high prices on the black market. Because of that, they were targeted by an infamous group of mercenary hunters: the Blood Fur, composed of only seven members, each of whom is a beastkin. It doesn't matter what the target is. An Over Beast, a normal person, or someone of their own race. They accepted any request as long as the payment seemed adequate. In truth, one could even say they specialized in hunting other beastkin, which is why they earned another nickname that inspired fear and deep contempt in every beastkin who heard it: 'The Strongest Traitors,'" Sequoria concluded in a voice heavy with bitterness.
A suffocating silence settled over the royal cabin, showing how vile each person present considered the very existence of such a revolting yet terrifying group. Even Caesar, who certainly had not lived the life of a saint, remained completely silent. Without speaking, the four shifted their attention back to the match that was about to begin, though Lucas's thoughts lingered on the horrendous scene the Katerina must have witnessed when she was still just a child, and his mind refused to let go of that thought.
Katerina didn't know how to react. She felt no hostility, sarcasm, or dishonesty in Angre's voice, and technically, he had also complimented Lucas's personality, which she personally found truly fantastic. But the way he praised her queen's appearance was undeniably crude and overly casual.
"Anyway, judging from how you reacted, does it happen often that other beastkin insult either you or your queen because you serve as her maid?" he asked with a blend of curiosity and regret.
Katerina's ears lifted at the young man's question. 'This guy…' she thought, then nodded calmly and said, "Yes. Most beastkin who don't live in this kingdom often end up insulting either my queen for treating an 'important' member of their species like a humble servant, or insulting me for supposedly 'lowering' myself by becoming a mere servant in an elf nation," the girl explained with composed clarity.
"Ah… how can I put this… I apologize on behalf of any member of the Northern Alliance who has insulted you or the queen in such a way. But try not to take them seriously, because people who act like that are simply really stupid. Just the way you carry yourself shows how proudly you wear that maid's uniform, and that alone should be enough for any beastkin worthy of the name to understand how important your position is to you."
A faint smile appeared on Katerina's face. '…He has great potential'.
"Angre, why did you decide to participate in the Tournament of the Golden Tree? Any village belonging to the Northern Alliance should be very far from Yggdora," Katerina asked in a solemn tone.
"Honestly, participating in this tournament is more of an excuse. I've always wanted to see countries outside my village, and not too long ago, the elders told me about this event and how entering it would demonstrate my strength and, in turn, the strength of my village. But to be honest, I wasn't really interested in any of that. I already trust my strength, and I've never cared much about fame. What I truly wanted was the chance to travel far from my village! Besides, I'm hoping to find a job here in this city or maybe somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, I like my village and the people in it, but lately I've noticed that every day feels almost exactly the same, and if things continue like that, I have the feeling that my life will end without me ever experiencing again strong feelings such as genuine excitement," Angre explained, his voice an unusual blend of excitement and melancholy.
'Perfect','Katerina thought.
"Boy, I want to make you an offer," Katerina began, her tone calm and almost mechanical.
Angre's ears flicked upward. "Don't tell me you want me to surrender? It's true I'm not especially interested in this tournament, but I still have my pride as a beastman, and I enjoy fighting, so don't expect convincing me to be easy," he said, intrigued yet slightly annoyed, though still completely without hostility.
"No, not at all. If you surrendered before fighting, I would break the promise I made to my queen to give her a spectacular match. What I want to offer you is a position as a butler at the palace. More precisely, my personal assistant, who will help me attend to all the queen's needs. Obviously, since you are a man, dressing and bathing the queen will remain my responsibility for now, but everything else will be practically identical to my duties. Naturally, to take such a position, you will need to move into the royal palace, where you will receive room and board, as well as a considerable salary of 5000 dorae per month. What do you think, boy—are you interested?" Katerina asked in her usual calm voice, though a small smile appeared on her lips.
Angre's eyes remained wide for several seconds before he answered, "It's not exactly the job I imagined finding when I left my village, but I'd be a complete fool not to accept such an offer, especially considering what I said earlier. Still, it seems too easy to get a job like that just by agreeing. There's something more behind this, isn't there?" he asked, wild excitement in his voice.
"Obviously. From what I've seen so far, you seem to have excellent potential for becoming a butler, and with training from me, you wouldn't become just any butler, but the perfect butler for the most important person in this kingdom. And because that person is so important, it isn't unusual for them to be targeted by large numbers of possible enemies. So the risk of getting caught up in those attacks is extremely high. A butler who dies instantly is completely useless, so before I can confirm your hiring, you must prove to me in this match that you're strong enough to serve as Queen Albaria's personal butler!" Katerina began calmly but ended with heavy severity.
A wild grin spread even further across Angre's face as he replied, "I understand. I'm not sure where you see potential in me as a butler, but if all I have to do is prove my strength… well, I like simple and clear conditions. I'm in—I'll show you everything I've got!" His excitement was now unmistakably overflowing.
The moment Angre accepted Katerina's proposal, Pinusal approached them and finally spoke. "Is there anything else you would like to say to your opponent before we begin?" he asked in his deep, resonant voice.
"I've already said everything that needed to be said," Katerina replied in her calm, stern voice.
"No, let's begin!" Angre said with eager enthusiasm.
Pinusal nodded and declared, "Very well, the match will start at my signal."
"Ready… Set… GO!"
Without giving Katerina even a moment to interfere, the instant Pinusal said "go," Angre shouted "White Storm!". At that moment, the strong winds sweeping across the arena surged in power and filled with heavy snow.
In seconds, a snowstorm so dense that it would prevent most people from seeing even a meter ahead engulfed the entire stadium field.