Songs in the Void

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Reisen Gorge.

"Were you really forced to leave your homes just because Shea-San is different from the other beastmen?" Sumire asked in an astonished tone.

"Unfortunately, that's the truth." Cam replied while shaking his head in disappointment.

"With so many years of discrimination, you'd think the beastmen of the Haultina Sea of Trees would be above that." Tatsuo said with a slight frown on his face. "I guess people are the same no matter where you go."

"Don't blame them." Cam said in a wise, yet gentle, tone. "They're only trying to keep the others safe."

"They wanted to kill your daughter for being different." Aletia said in a deadpan tone. "Then, they wanted to kil all of you for protecting her. Yet, you can speak so kindly in their defense? I don't understand you."

"People fear what they don't understand." Tatsuo said, trying to sound much wiser than his age. "That's just how people are. Anyway, it's time to get out of this gorge. We're already at the end."

As Tatsuo said, the group, consisting of him, Sumire, Aletia, Shea, Cam, and the rest of the rabbitmen they rescued from the monsters, arrived at the end of the Reisen Gorge, a large set of steps that did not look natural to Tatsuo store before them.

During the recent conversation, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia were leading the group, on foot, through the gorge. Along the way, Tatsuo took care of all the monster in front of them by firing his pistols. In fact, over time, the group had gotten so used to the loud explosions produced by his pistols, that they did not even flinch at the loud noise. And that says something, considering how impressive the rabbitmen's hearing was.

"I hope those men from the Holscher Empire are gone." A young rabbitman woman said in a tone filled with dread.

"Don't worry, they won't take any more of you with us here." Sumire said in a righteous tone.

Hearing that, all the Haulia Tribesman looked at Sumire with apprehension.

"Huh?" Sumire entoned confusedly. "Did I say something weird?"

"Um... Miss Sumire, are you sure you can fight them?" Shea asked in a hesitant tone. "I mean... they're humans... just like you, right?"

In response, Sumire only tilted her head in confusion. Then, after a few moments, she finally understood what Shea and the rest of her tribe were talking about.

"Oh, now I get it." Sumire said in an understanding tone.

Sumire then turned around and slowly made eye contact with all the Haulia Tribesmen, one by one.

"I think you're misunderstanding something." Sumire said with a smile. "Whether someone is human, demon, or beastman, that doesn't matter to me. But the fact that they are involved in slavery is enough for me to punish them for what they are doing. And if it means I have to kill them, then I have to kill them."

The conviction in Sumire words mixed with the smile she was wearing caused all the Haulia tribesmen to look at her in disbelief. A moment later, however, they all smiled at her, believing she meant every word. Then, they turned their gazes towards Tatsuo and Aletia.

"I'm not human." Aletia said simply without looking back towards any of the gazes that fell on her. "So, I don't care what happens to them."

Tatsuo, on the other hand, did not even respond. He only smiled. He had been trained to do just what they were thinking about, after all. On top of that, he was not completely human any more, either. So, the way he looked at humans has changed, not seeing them as special anymore.

Instead, Tatsuo jumped up, landing on the first of the large steps before running forward to the next one and completing the process.

"I think he's saying that he'll let his actions talk for him." Sumire said with a smile before she jumped up to follow Tatsuo.

Meanwhile, Aletia was already following Tatsuo, leaving all the rabbitmen to exchange glances amongst themselves.

"Come on, let's go!" Shea shouted while pumping her right fist into the air.

Then, just like Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia, she also leapt up to the first step and started making her way forward. And even though they did not completely trust the trio, the rest of the tribe followed along, if for no other reason than to look after Shea.

At the same time, Tatsuo kept all the rabbitmen in his range of [Perception], checking to see just how nimble they were.

"Good." Tatsuo said quietly while nodding to himself. "I think the books really undersold just how athletically superior beastmen are to humans. Training them to protect themselves won't be a waste of time, after all."

'Not that we'll be here long enough to see that training get put to use, though.' Tatsuo thought to himself.

"You're right." Sumire added with a nod. "If they were properly trained, there's no way a few soldiers, no matter how skilled they were, would be able to capture so many of them."

"Exactly." Tatsuo replied with a nod of his own. "The only problem is how soft heart ed they are. I mean, look at that."

As he finished speaking, Tatsuo gestured towards a younger rabbitman boy, who, as soon as Sumire and Aletia glanced in his direction, almost lost his balance because he was trying to avoid stepping on a flower.

"Foolish." Aletia said as she turned her head back to the front.

"Usually I would try to give them the benefit of the doubt." Sumire said as she turned her head back to the front , as well. She then started shaking her head as she continued. "But I can't even think of a justification."

"They value the lives of everything and everyone way too much." Tatsuo said in a frustrated tone. A moment later, his frustration disappeared and a somewhat feral grin spread across his face. "And I'll have to break that mentality before I can teach them properly."

Not only was Tatsuo's grin feral, but his last sentence sounded somewhat like a growl, as well. And that caused both Sumire and Aletia to look in his direction.

While Sumire looked at Tatsuo with a bit of concern on her face, Aletia's eyes lit up as she jumped onto Tatsuo's back, wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, and began sniffing his neck, looking as though she would sink her fangs into it at any moment.

Before Aletia could take a bite to drink, however, Tatsuo reached the top of the gorge. And he was shortly followed by Sumire, Shea, and the rest of the Haulia tribe. And their arrival alerted a group of humans who had set up camp near the end of the gorge.

"Oh, look! The rabbit freaks came back!" A man wearing armor with the insignia of the Holscher Empire shouted while pointing at the group of new arrivals.

"Damn! I had all this month's salary riding on the fact that they would all die down there." Another soldier said as he threw a cup to the ground. He then glared at the rabbitmen with malicious intent, his gaze wandering over several of the more voluptuous female members of the tribe. "I'm going to make you pay for the losses. By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish that you had died down there."

Hearing that, the Haulia tribesman all took a step back subconsciously while Shea grabbed onto Tatsuo's clothes for a sense of security.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Another soldier, this one wearing a more exquisite armor, asked while stepping forward. "It looks like the one with pale blue hair that the captain wanted came back, too. Looks like someone is going to get some military merits when we get back to the capital."

"I think you should just let this one go." Tatsuo said quietly while smiling in the friendliest manner he could muster while taking Aletia off his back and putting her down next to him.

Despite leading the group that climbed out of the gorge, the soldiers from the Holscher Empire did not seem to notice him at all, or rather purposefully ignored him, until he spoke. But when they did, they were all angered to see someone they thought was a human, siding with the demi-human freaks. Yet, when they saw Sumire and Aletia, their eyes all lit up with greed and lust.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing, boy?" The leader of the group of soldiers asked in an angry tone. "We're proud soldiers of the Holscher Empire. And you are in our territory. We could execute you on the grounds of treason for what you just said."

The leading soldier then turned his gaze away from Tatsuo and scanned Sumire and Aletia, who both looked uncomfortable under his lecherous gaze.

"But I am a man with generosity as broad as the sword he wields." The leader continued with a grin. "So, just give me those two women of yours. Then, I'll let you off with only imprisonment and work in the mines for the rest of your life. Quite the good deal, isn't it? You would even get to keep your pitiful life."

"Sorry, buddy, but they're not commodities to be traded." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head.

"It seems you don't understand the situation you are in, do you?" The leader asked as he put a hand on the broadsword hanging on his hip. "Fine then, just to drive the point home, I'm going to cut off your arms and legs before cutting out your tongue. Then, I'll make you watch as I have my way with those two women right in front of you. And when I'm done with them, I'll let my men have a turn with them before killing you and selling them to a brothel."

"*Sigh* That wasn't a good idea." Tatsuo said while shaking his head with a pitying expression on his face. "You just said something that you shouldn't have."

In the next instant, pillars of green and gold mana shot up on either side of Tatsuo. A moment later, the green mana pillar, which was surrounding Sumire, vanished from Tatsuo's left side.

"Ahh~~~~~~~~!" The leading soldier screamed as he was lifted off the ground with a spear sticking through his chest and out his back.

"How dare you threaten Tatsuo-Kun. Like that." Sumire said as she swung her spear to one side, throwing the leading soldier at a group of the soldiers he led.

"Tch!" Aletia clicked her tongue when she saw Sumire take out the man who threatened Tatsuo before she turned her raised hand towards the other soldiers. "[Rupture]."

In the next instant, water molecules began gathering in front of Aletia, taking the form of a ball of water that was quickly compressed. Then, when the water was compressed sufficiently, Aletia willed it to shoot high-pressure streams of water at the soldiers.

"Ahh~~~~~~!" A soldier screamed as a hole was pierced through his torso.

The soldier then fell to the ground, bleeding and trying to staunch the bleeding. Though, it was clear to anyone who looked that he would not last long.

Despite that, Aletia continued to fire streams of high-pressure water at the remaining soldiers. Meanwhile, Sumire dashed around and cut down any soldier in her way while clocking incoming attack with her shield before bashing said attackers in the head with the edge of her shield.

"These women are monsters!" Another soldier shouted. "WE have to run and let the Empire know of these threats!"

Unfortunately, before that soldier could start running, he fell to the ground, his legs below the knees still standing in place with blood oozing out of both sides of the cleanly cut stumps. Then, before his brain could register the pain of his injuries, he saw the stream of water that just amputated him moving to another soldier. Finally, he screamed in pain and fear as he tried to crawl away from what he knew was coming.

"Hey, you two!" Tatsuo shouted over all the screams and cries. "We need to keep one of them alive. We need to know what happened to the rest of the Haulia Tribe."

Receiving nods in response, Tatsuo nodded back. Then, he just watched the massacre with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"They're so strong." Shea said wither eyes shining.

"Yeah, they are." Tatsuo said with a proud smile on his face.

"Can I be that strong?" Shea asked as she tightened her grip on Tatsuo's shirt.

"Of course." Tatsuo replied. "You just have to train hard. In fact, I plan to make not only you, but your whole tribe stronger. You have to be able to protect yourselves. Because we won't stay with you forever. And from what I read, rabbitmen are naturally stronger than humans, have great leg strength, hearing, perception, and are naturally good at stealth. So, I should be the perfect person to help you get stronger.""

"Really?" Shea asked curiously while looking up at Tatsuo. "You'd really help us get stronger?"

"Of course." Tatsuo replied. "I said I would protect you. And the best way to do that is make sure that you and your tribesman can protect yourselves."

"But why?" Cam asked as he stepped forward to stand where Sumire stood before she attacked the soldiers. "Why would you do so much for us?"

"Because I hate people being forced into slavery." Tatsuo said as he clenched his right fist. "More than you could ever know."

Hearing the loathing in Tatsuo's voice, Shea and Cam could only wonder what Tatsuo had been through to have such despise in his tone.

Not long later, Sumire and Aletia finished killing all the soldiers. The only exception being the one whose legs had been cut off by Aletia. And Tatsuo, at a leisurely pace, approached that soldier while Sumire returned to the group as she cleaned her spear.

"Stay away!" The soldier screamed; the terror evident in his voice.

"Calm down, man." Tatsuo said with a friendly smile on his face. "I only want some answers."

"No, stay back!" The soldier screamed once again while trying to drag himself away from Tatsuo.

"*Sigh* They always wanna do things the hard way." Tatsuo muttered as he reached down to his thigh and drew the pistol on his right.

While pulling the pistol out of his holster, the [Transmutation Circle] on the back of Tatsuo's glove, which he replaced his wrist guard with, glowed midnight purple. Then, the blades jutting out from the end of the pistol's barrel retracted and blunted. A moment later, Tatsuo placed the muzzle of the pistol against the soldier's forehead.

"Look, buddy." Tatsuo said. "It will all be over after you answer a few questions for me, alright?"

Although the soldier had no idea that the pistol could fire a projectile through his head, he had just seen the blades at the end of the barrel retract. So, he was terrified that the blades would shoot forward again and pierce through his head. Therefore, he was unable to speak or move in the slightest.

*Tap!* *Tap!*

"Hey, did you hear me?" Tatsuo asked while tapping the muzzle against the soldier's forehead.

Instead of responding verbally, the soldier nodded his head while keeping an eye on the blades that could pierce his head at any moment.

"Good." Tatsuo replied with a nod of his own. "now, what happened to the other rabbitmen you and your friends captured?"

"If I tell you, you won't stab me with that thing, right?" The soldier asked apprehensively.

"You have my word." Tatsuo replied while nodding his head. "As long as you answer my questions and don't lie to me, I won't stab you."

Hearing that, the soldier breathed a sigh of relief.

"They were taken back to the capital." The soldier said. "Rabbitmen, with their docile characters are the favorite slaves among the nobles. Especially the women. You can do almost anything to them and they won't fight back."

Hearing that, all the women present gritted their teeth and clenched their fists. However, they all knew what he said was the truth. And that frustrated the rabbitmen even more.

"If they were taken back to the capital, why wee you still here?" Tatsuo asked, noticing the emotions of everyone around him.

"Because our captain wanted to see if the ones who ran away would come back." The soldier replied. He then pointed towards Shea as he continued. "And he really wanted that one. Her pale blue hair is special among the rabbitmen."

And that was true. Every rabbitman other than Shea had dark blue hair. But thanks to her atavism, Shea's hair took on a pale blue color. Though, the soldiers of the Holscher Empire had no way of knowing that. Had they known, they probably would have wanted to kill Shea just like the other beastmen in the Haultina Sea of Trees.

"*Sigh* I see." Tatsuo said while shaking his head.

"I answered your questions." The soldier said, his tone sounding much more relieved than before. "And I didn't lie. Now, you can let me go, right?"

In response, Tatsuo only tilted his head in confusion.

"Let you go?" Tatsuo asked in a confused tone. "When did I say I would do that?"

"Huh?" The soldier asked, his body tensing in confusion. "But you said you wouldn't stab me with that strange weapon if I told you the truth."

"That's right." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "But when did I say I would let you go?"

*Bang!*

Tatsuo then pulled the trigger, firing a bullet through the soldiers head, killing the soldier immediately, blood and grey matter leaking from a large exit wound on the back of his head.

"I said I wouldn't stab you." Tatsuo said in an innocent toen. "I never said I wouldn't shoot you, though."

Tatsuo then took a handkerchief out of his [Inventory] and started wiping the blood off his gun. Then, when the outside of the gun was clean, he moved it towards the holster on his right thigh while [Transmuting] it back to its original shape.

"Alright, everyone, let's go." Tatsuo said as he stepped past the soldier's corpse. "Let's get you to the Sea of Trees. Besides, there's something I want to find in there, anyway."