Yo, I’ve been pretty busy lately.
Millenia currency reform.
Boosting the domestic market, gathering resources for the future.
And most of all…
Preparing for external invasion.
Doing all that at once, of course I’d be swamped.
Couldn’t just leave it all to my vassals, which made it even worse.
‘I thought Mel would be able to handle things over here…
That’s why I hadn’t been paying much attention to the neighboring countries.
From my perspective, Arkenia was a done deal.
I figured if I left it to Mel, she’d take care of it.
Even the monarch, Leopoldus, had opened his eyes thanks to the shock therapy, hadn’t he?
He even shook hands with me, a different race.
So I hadn’t been paying much attention lately, but…
“Master, look at this! Those damn humans did this! They’re devils, plain and simple!”
“….”
‘One mountain after another, huh?’
Wiz’s sudden summons.
She was actually asking me to come in person.
Usually, she’d wave her hand, saying she couldn’t possibly bother me.
So I came, and what do you know?
I stumbled upon a scene of racial abuse.
And it was on a level that was hard to ignore.
Her vertical pupils scanned the cave.
“Whose wrist is that?”
“The humans cut it off! Said they didn’t meet their coal quota… no, they just cut it off because they were in a bad mood!”
“Oh my~ What trash.”
The slime, Mel, who had come along in her spirit body, exclaimed.
Saying, wow, trash.
She didn’t hesitate to hurl insults in her cute voice.
…If she’s reacting like that, it’s saying something.
Mel had traveled all over the continent as much as Lucia.
She’d seen it all, from smuggling to various schemes.
Even she’s shaking her head?
That meant this was a rare occurrence, even in the Middle Ages.
No wonder Wiz was so angry.
“….”
‘I wondered if it was true when I heard the name Leopoldus, but was it really? Leopold II?’
I, a modern person, was more familiar with this sight.
I already knew of similar cases.
Leopold II, the second King of Belgium.
The devil who stole the hands and feet of countless Congolese people.
My voice involuntarily became heavy.
“What’s the situation in the other mines? How many places has this happened?”
“I’ve only confirmed this one…”
“Only here? What about the others?”
“The others are treated pretty well, but what’s the point! They’re doing this kind of thing behind the scenes!!”
“Calm down, calm down. You’re scaring the kids in the back.”
“Kiiik… Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. Anyway, most of them are fine, right?”
“Yes…”
“Hmm, hmm.”
Thankfully, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
If the monarch was directly involved, it wouldn’t have happened in just one or two mines.
At least the leaders of this country seemed to be uninvolved.
“Mel, what’s the probability that Leopoldus ordered this?”
“Low, right? As inferior as humans are, he’s not stupid enough to ignore my warnings.”
“Right. This must be the work of an individual or a small group. Probably what that general manager guy did.”
Our gazes soon turned towards the entrance of the mine.
Towards the old man who was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world.
Wiz’s murderous aura should have woken him up, but he was sleeping like a log.
“…We have to kill them, Master.”
“Wiz?”
“Those things aren’t the same species as us. They’re different from us. They’re devils who can never coexist with us!!”
She seemed to be getting worked up again, her voice growing louder.
As a bonus, her magic control was failing, and mana was swirling around her.
I quickly turned around and faced my butt towards her.
-Pat pat.
“Calm down.”
“…Master, but.”
“I understand you’re angry, okay? But listen to me first. I’ll tell you a history lesson.”
Wiz instinctively sat down when I aimed my tail at her.
Stroking her head, I slowly opened my mouth.
It wasn’t a pleasant story.
“There was a monarch named Leopold II. He treated the country of Congo as his personal property and exploited its people.”
Leopold II, who lived during the height of imperialism.
He ruled his colony in accordance with the trends of the time.
But he imposed extremely harsh conditions.
“He made the Congolese chiefs, who couldn’t even read, sign a pledge with these clauses. That they agree that he monopolizes the land, labor, and all economic benefits of Congo.”
“…Seriously? That worked? That’s practically a slave contract.”
“He explained it to the international community without that clause.”
Even Mel was taken aback by the conditions, but he succeeded in getting this national-scale slave contract recognized.
He cleverly omitted this clause and presented it as a humanitarian measure to countries like the United States.
It was so cunning that even the monarch known as the ‘Iron Chancellor’ was fooled.
That showed how meticulous he was.
“After that, Congo’s rubber exports increased more than twentyfold in ten years.”
“So the plantation you mentioned was established? It must have been hell.”
“That was the good part. Leopold II even cut off wrists, just like those dwarves.”
“….!!!”
A sound suddenly rang out, cutting off my explanation.
It was the sound of Wiz gasping.
Her eyes were wide, as if she was surprised by what I said.
“Why? Did you think I was going to defend humans? Give a good counterexample?”
“…Honestly, I thought you would. Until just now, I thought you were talking about yourself.”
“Hey, don’t compare a perfectly good dragon to someone like that.”
“Then why…?”
“I want you to know. How foolish humans are.”
The hand stroking her head. No, the tail became even softer.
Of course, the explanation didn’t stop.
“What’s happening here is that humans are doing this to a different race, right?”
“Congo was different. They were the same humans as Leopold. Just a slightly different skin color.”
“But they still did this. Humans to humans, to their own kind.”
First, I made her understand Leopold II’s atrocities,
“Then, if they have the same skin color, is it different? Can humans really live caring for each other?”
“Many do, but it’s absolutely impossible for everyone to do that.”
“The Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, etc. Countless genocidal crimes have been committed. Some of them were triggered by simple hatred.”
“Humans are this kind of species. A species that commits everything from small-scale bullying to large-scale massacres.”
I went beyond that and preached about how foolish the human race is.
Irrational and unreasonable acts that I, even when I was human, could never accept.
They were animals that casually committed such things.
Naturally, Wiz’s reaction wasn’t good.
“Then we should kill them even more! It’s better for this trash race to go extinct!!”
“Wiz? Calm down.”
“No, Master! This time, you’re wrong and I’m right!! We can’t live under the same sky as humans!!!”
“…Are you crazy!?”
Wiz burst out in anger.
Mel was startled.
She must have been shocked that I was being told I was ‘wrong’, because her slime body bristled like a hedgehog.
I didn’t deny it.
“Maybe so. I just know a lot, I’m not wise.”
“No!? No, Wiz!! What are you making him say…”
“Can you be quiet for a second? I’m talking to Wiz.”
“…Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Anyway, Wiz.”
However, even so.
The tail stroking her head still wagged softly.
Her thoughts…
Were the same worries I had once had.
“But let’s assume. What do you think will happen if all the humans die and only the other races are left?”
“Then the continent will be peaceful under your rule…”
“If that’s the case, will this kind of thing not happen? Won’t we do this?”
“We would never do such a thing!!”
“Oh, wouldn’t you? You know Shar, right? She was subtly ignored a lot before she evolved. She was bullied when she was
young for being weak for an orc.”
“T, that’s… because she’s an orc.”
“What about your favorite dwarves? If someone likes wine instead of beer, will they be welcomed and get along well?”
“….”
“That’s how it is. That’s the way of the world.”
The conclusion I came to at the end of it all.
It wasn’t just humans who were foolish.
All animals except me are foolish.
…No, maybe they’re just like that because they haven’t experienced such things yet.
Maybe I’m no different.
‘Well, unless something like my mother dying happens, that won’t happen…’
-Ting.
[Negative. Rea states for the 22,915th time that she is not Teo’s biological parent.]
‘You’re going to stay by my side forever? Thank you, Mother.’
[Rea will continue to exist until Teo can survive on his own.]
‘You’re saying you’ll live with me forever? My mother is such a son-in-law fool~.’
[…..Rea has determined that Teo has become negligent in the purpose of survival and will sulk until repentance is achieved.]
‘Don’t do that. We’re doing all this to live, right? All of this.’
My heavy heart became a little lighter.
It was thanks to the banter with my mother, the artificial intelligence Rea.
Was that why?
There was a hint of playfulness in my voice.
“Even if I say this, you won’t be convinced, right? You understand it in your head, but you’re not comfortable in your heart?”
“…Yes. I hate the human race.”
“It can’t be helped. You’re kind, after all. How can you stand seeing the dwarves treated like that?”
“But if that’s what you want, I…”
-Grin.
“——Then, shall we go mess with them a little?”
My eyes turned to one place.
The bottom of the mine.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten, but…
Towards something that had been flashing from beginning to end.
The symbol of Millenia’s military power.
A pistol.
“…Yes? Is that okay?”
“Yeah. Mel? From now on, we’re going to give Leo a ‘gift’, okay? Deliver it to the main body.”
“As you wish❤”
“Wiz, you come with me. Let’s punish Leopoldus for failing to manage his subordinates.”
“What about treating these guys?”
“Let’s tell the dwarves to wait a little longer. I have an idea.”
“…Understood, Master!! You guys wait a little longer! Teonar, the great Teonar, will save you!! From those evil humans!!”
With a pistol in hand.
We headed to Arkenia’s royal castle.
* * *
A few hours later.
“What is this? A very beautiful device.”
“Curious, aren’t you-? What do you think will happen if you pull this thing called a trigger-?”
“Oh, what will happen?”
“Shall we try pulling it on that pretty knight-? What do you think, Your Majesty-?”
“….”
‘I asked you because it was dangerous to leave it to Wiz, but you were pretty pent up too, huh?’
The gun was pointed at Leopoldus.