805 An Interesting Offer
Well… His words made sense. A human would give birth to humans, Hectors would give birth to Hectors… It was the normal thing in this universe that a race would give birth to kids who would grow to become like them.
“So… You’re saying that this guardian beast is giving birth to more guardians?” I got the meaning behind his words, and even beyond, “but if that was the case, then your race should protect those offsprings with everything they got, right? Why the hell were they killing them?”
I even heard it from the Silverlining himself. If not for this guardian beast protecting the Hector race, the Hectors would never have reached such a pinnacle or even kept it for such a long time.
If I was in the shoes of Hector’s higher ups, and what this mysterious entity said was true, then I’d do everything in my power to keep the guardian beast’s offspring healthy and alive.
I’d do everything I could to even accelerate their growth.
“That’s if you want more guardian beasts in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” He kept saying such weird and shocking things, one after another.
“A guardian beast isn’t just a normal beast, not even close to the ones you saw here. These are just newborns, with little intelligence and little power. Imagine a much grander beast, with intelligence and wisdom that way goes beyond your abilities to understand. How will you behave towards this beast?”
“With veneration and respect of course,” I honestly said.
“That’s because you are a pure human,” yet his words told me I guessed it wrong, “having such a beast isn’t just all great like you thought with your honest mind. It’s a formidable force, enough to rival the authority of those selfish and arrogant old men sitting on the thrones of my race for a long time already.”
I remained silent, and he kept talking when I didn’t.
“The most thing incapable kings would fear is the presence of an untouchable being that gains the respect and veneration of the masses. Not only their authority will always get challenged, their people won’t listen to their words if placed against the wise words of the beast, right?”
“This…” it finally hit me. Those kings and leaders were terrified of the guardian beast.
A formidable existence that should act as the sword and shield of the entire race was turned into such a formidable opponent, one that shouldn’t exist in the first place.
Instead of working hard to nourish and support that guardian beast to give birth to more, and helping those kids to grow up and become mighty beings like their mother, the Hector kings and leaders placed the task of exterminating those kids as their top priority.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I got what the current situation was at that race. It looked bad indeed. But why was he telling me such secrets that only his higher ups should know?
He took the trouble to come, controlled my Lily, and kept watching me for a long time to get to know me better.
Of course it wasn’t just to save one small beast!
“You have to know this first,” as I said that he returned to issue tunes from the golden threads again, “not all the offspring the guardian beast delivers have the potential to become a true guardian. Only one in each generation does.”
“And that one… Is it just down there?” I pointed my glaive towards the direction of the ocean, “and you want me to just keep it? For your sake?”
“No, for your sake,” he shook his head, “we grew pissed off and tired from the selfish and brutal actions of those kings and leaders over the long course of time. We got it, it was wrong to entrust our people with such beings.”
“Speaking like you and that beast are old friends.”
“We are,” he paused, turning to me before adding, “just like you and that turtle are, just like you and the rest of your little group of friends are.”
Like my friends? I got the general idea he was trying to deliver, but truly couldn’t understand it fully.
From his tone and words, it seemed he didn’t put his race in the same regard as that guardian beast.
“I know it doesn’t make sense, but this is how we are,” he shrugged, “anyway, that beast down there is just the one in generation offspring that has potential to grow and become a guardian.”
“And you want me to keep it safe?”
“I want you to nourish it, make it grow to be your kingdom and race’s guardian beast.”
“And?” Despite this looking like a shocking offer, I felt there was still more to it.
“I want you to promise one thing to us…”
“You want me to kill your race?” This was the only thing I could think of. He said all these things to show me his grudge against his race.
“Not the race, but it’s kings and leaders,” he said.
“I won’t be able to touch a single king without killing his subordinates and followers.”
I wouldn’t make a promise that I couldn’t keep.
“Killing troops is fine, but killing innocent people isn’t.”
“And what if they didn’t accept my rule? What if they held their race high in their hearts?”
“As it pains me to say it, placing such heart for the wrong race and kings is a sin that I can’t say anything to argue against.”
“So… Are you cool with it? Entrusting your race, one of the three big races for an outsider like me? You do know that I won’t accept a single one without a loyalty contract, right?”
“At least you still keep part of your nature in you,” he stopped, looking at me for a long minute before adding, “Serving a just king is much worthier than being lords under a tyrant selfish one.”
“It’s your race, and it’s your call,” I shrugged, “but if you think offering me just one beast in return will make me agree, then you are mistaken.”
“I beg your pardon?”