Volume 6 Chapter 12 The Shackled Lion King (Part I)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The Silver Moon Village lay shrouded in an eerie silence.
It wasn’t the silence of peace, but a suffocating void that felt instinctively wrong. No birds sang, no insects chirped. The air, instead of carrying the freshness of morning dew, was thick with the metallic tang of iron—a predator’s scent, a nauseating mix of blood and raw beast-musk1.
I led the procession through the village’s central square, Sylvia cradled carefully in my arms. Her body, battered and smeared with soot and dirt from the battle, was still whole. I moved with the caution one reserves for something priceless.
Behind me, the villagers’ breath caught in their throats.
A sentry’s spear clattered to the ground. Erland, who’d rushed to the square, froze mid-step, her mouth opening and closing silently.
”…A-ah…”
The cry never escaped her throat.
Trailing behind me like a shackled shadow was the very monster who’d ravaged their home—Gauz, the Golden Lion.
His bones should’ve been shattered, his organs pulp. Yet he walked.
White steam hissed from his wounds as his body burned through an unnatural healing cycle, mending itself at a terrifying pace.
There was no defeat in his blood-soaked face, only a feverish exhilaration. The ecstasy of finally finding a male stronger than himself. His eyes never left my back, filled with absolute admiration, as he marched after me like a giant guard dog obeying its master.
Behind Gauz’s massive frame came two more figures: a fox-eared woman and a rabbit-eared girl. Their faces were pale, their breathing shallow. No relief at surviving, only deep terror of what awaited them next.
”Hii…!”
One of the Elves collapsed to her knees.
I understood their fear. The monster who’d nearly destroyed their village stood unbroken, calmly following me as if nothing had happened.
Every Elf imagined the same nightmare—those fangs sinking into my throat.
”I intended to exterminate this pest, but I captured it instead,” I said, my voice cutting through the silence.
The square held its breath.
”It’s been broken in. It won’t bite anymore, so you can rest easy. As of today, this thing is a construction worker.”
”Construction… worker?” Erland gasped.
I carried Sylvia into a room in the Elder’s Manor, gently laying her on a clean bed.
Perhaps she felt the mattress beneath her, because her consciousness slowly surfaced. Her unfocused eyes found mine, her dry lips trembling.
”…Ryuichi…sama…?”
My voice softened.
”I am… so sorry… I could not… win… I could not… protect…”
Even now, she apologized.
(…Could not protect, huh.)
A sharp sting pricked behind my eyes.
She’d known from the start she couldn’t defeat that monster, yet she’d stood her ground anyway.
The truth was clear.
She’d intended to die.
”Rest easy. It’s over now. Do not think about anything else. Just sleep.”
The tension drained from her body as if a string had snapped. After a quiet sigh, she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Those simple words reached her more deeply than any healing spell could have.
Sylvia, who’d never once called me by name, had finally done so.
I stayed by her bedside for a while, silently watching her sleep.
[Underground Warehouse on the Outskirts of Silver Moon Village]
The dim, moldy space smelled of stone dust. With little effort, I’d turned it into a makeshift interrogation room.
I sat on a wooden crate, the three prisoners lined up before me: Gauz the Lion-man, Lara the Fox-man, and Mimi the Rabbit-man.
I crossed my arms, studying them.
Gauz sat in the center. Even in his humanoid form, his physique was absurd. Dense muscles bulged beneath his skin like steel cables. His bones were still broken, his flesh torn, yet white steam hissed from his wounds.
”…Hey. You’ve been venting steam since earlier. Are you not dying?” I asked.
Gauz snorted.
”Huh? I’m just hungry, Boss. My body’s burning through its fat to force these wounds closed.” He cracked his neck. “Give me three days and a decent meal, and I’ll be back to normal.”
I stared at him.
What a ridiculous creature.
Its vitality bordered on insanity.
My gaze shifted to Lara, the fox-eared woman on the right, then to Mimi, the rabbit-eared woman on the left.
”Now then. Let’s go over your resumes. Gauz, what can you offer me?”
”My life. These two women. And my entire army, Boss!”
His answer came without hesitation.
Lara shot him an icy glare before turning to me with a careful smile.
Mimi, the moment our eyes met, squeaked in terror.
”Hii…!”
She covered her long ears, shrinking into herself.
”Army?” I asked. “There are only a few of you here. Where are the rest?”
”Left them at the border!”
”The border? How far?”
”Far. Beyond the mountains.”
I considered his answer, glancing at the pile of luggage in the corner.
How had they survived such a journey?
Their durability was genuinely impressive.
”So, what is the scale of this Hundred-Beast Federation?”
”The total population is approximately 1.5 million,” Lara replied. “Compared to humans, our numbers are small, but many tribes live under one banner, and each tribe possesses strong individual combat ability.”
”What about your relationship with the human nations to the north? Are you at war?”
Lara shook her head.
”No. We largely leave one another alone. We suppress the monsters that rise from the south, and because we serve as a barrier between those monsters and the human nations, that arrangement has continued for centuries. Gauz is one of the Four Divine Generals of the Hundred-Beast Federation and serves as Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Expeditionary Force.”
I stroked my chin.
Commander-in-Chief?
Another question arose.
”If he holds such an important position, why travel all the way here? Crossing mountains and spending months on the road cannot have been easy.”
Lara sighed.
”A few months ago, Gauz caught the scent of an enormous concentration of mana drifting from the north.”
”The scent of mana?”
Gauz leaned forward eagerly.
”That’s right! It was you, wasn’t it, Boss? I was so happy when I found you! I crossed the mountains all by myself because I wanted to eat you. My nose never lies!”
Lara pressed a hand to her forehead.
”The General’s decisions are absolute. Once he decides something is prey, nobody can stop him. Even if it means abandoning his duties as Commander-in-Chief, he follows his instincts. That is simply the kind of person Gauz is.”
A faint smile touched her lips.
”I accompanied him as his advisor. As for Mimi, she was dragged along because her ears happened to be useful.”
”Huu… I wanted to go home…” Mimi muttered, tears welling in her eyes.
So that was the truth.
A general driven by appetite and two subordinates forced to follow him.
I quietly organized the information.
A remote nation. An isolated power. A commander who’d crossed an entire mountain range on a whim.
This was not an invasion force.
…As far as unexpected finds went, this was a premium one.
The risks and benefits were clear.
The conclusion was simple.
Useful.
I looked over the three Beastmen again.
My gaze was cold, detached, practical—the look of someone inspecting equipment before putting it to work.
The interrogation moved to the heart of the matter.
—
Summary:
Ryuichi returns to Silver Moon Village with the heavily wounded but conscious Sylvia in his arms and the defeated, yet enthralled, Gauz in tow. After settling Sylvia, Ryuichi begins a cold interrogation of Gauz and his two subordinates, Lara and Mimi, in a makeshift prison. He learns that Gauz is a high-ranking military commander from a distant, isolationist Beastman nation who abandoned his post to hunt Ryuichi purely due to a primitive, predatory instinct. Ryuichi evaluates their utility, concluding that their presence poses minimal risk of political fallout and decides to integrate them into his plans.
—
Trivia:
Gauz’s metabolism is described as an overheated engine that burns his own body fat to regenerate tissue.
The Hundred-Beast Federation has a population of 1.5 million and serves as a buffer against southern monsters.
Ryuichi’s Mana output was strong enough to be detected by Beastmen across an entire continent.
Lara serves as the intellectual administrator for the group, while Mimi was brought along solely due to her hearing abilities.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Sylvia – A voluptuous, white-blonde elf with porcelain skin and a heavily scarred body, Crimson Lotus is a loyal, battle-hardened Silver-rank vanguard. Enshrouded in a dark-red Spirit Shroud, she wields a bow and longsword with immense strength. Though left battered, exhausted, and with a scorched hand from a grueling sacrifice against Gauz, she remains a devoted confidante to Ryuichi and highly regards John, Nier, and her King.
• Erland – A 320-year-old elven Village Elder and living grimoire, she has sharp features, glasses, and long hair. She guides her deity, the Spirit King, balancing analytical authority and aristocratic speech with an intense, submissive devotion to him. Utilizing earth-based defense and binding magic, she stays focused during chaotic battles while torn between maintaining village order and his demands.
• Gauz – A giant, steel-furred lion beast-man with golden eyes, dense muscle armor, and a massive mane. This hyper-durable, regenerative commander leads a 30,000-strong Southern Expeditionary Force. A muscle-brained warrior wielding the axe Agito, he is an arrogant, predatory tool for his boss, valuing only the strongest leader. Mentioned by Lara as a beast-keeper, he is now a charred runaway tank.
• Man – A roughneck wearing a hat who participated in a group assault. He suffers the loss of his right arm and later his left arm during an experiment by the protagonist before being stored.
• Ryuichi – A 40-year-old, plain-looking Spirit King with black hair, a beard, and Japanese past-life memories. This weary, analytical leader controls the basement, Grimm mansion, and an elf village, protecting his growing household with blunt, ruthless pragmatism and calculated efficiency. Commanding god-like mana, Mana Shell, interdimensional magic, gravity manipulation, and regeneration, he treats enemies and powerful creatures as tools with cold, clinical logic. He provided the essence for the women and built the vitrified waterway, though his current absence has spurred intimacy between Nier and Helga.
• Ryu – A man with Interdimensional Magic who leads a growing household. He acts as a provider and protector for his slaves, while maintaining a pragmatic and blunt personality.
• Lara – A long-haired, golden fox-woman of the Hundred-Beast Federation with nine tails. Highly intelligent, elegant, and calculating, this strategist and political advisor suppresses her fear to manipulate social situations for survival. She uses Illusion Magic to project an aura of power and maneuvers Gauz for political goals, though she is currently a captive subjected to a body search.
• Mimi – A petite, cowering rabbit-kin from the Hundred-Beast Federation with translucent skin and long, sensitive ears. Perpetually terrified, traumatized by the sound of the world’s life force being consumed, she acts as a sensory receiver for distant information. Frequently dragged along by stronger individuals, she is currently a captive subjected to a body search alongside her companion, Lara.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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