Chapter 20 – You Will Eventually Become Them
“Let’s go into the city, but before you enter, you’d better think it through. If you’re spies sent by the Empire, this is your last chance.” The sharp-mouthed, blue-skinned humanoid monster grinned, pointing at the bottom of the city wall.
Only now did Tillysha and Yimi notice the shaky silhouettes hanging above the moat. On closer inspection, they were several corpses dangling there, almost skeletal, their flesh mostly rotted and decomposed. Their messy hair partially concealed the pale bones of their skulls.
“Best count every maggot on those bodies; that’ll be your fate if you betray us or the people inside the city.”
“Opening the gates means we consider you our kin. We’re willing to trust that you’re on our side, offering sufficient faith in you. Likewise, we don’t fear betrayal from you, because if you think you’ll survive sneaking out intelligence as a spy?”
“We’re warning you upfront; if we confirm you’re spies from the Empire, we won’t hesitate against traitors. This,”—the bald, black-skinned creature standing on the watchtower declared, tossing a small stone at the drowned corpses in the sewage ditch—”is the fate of worms.”
“Alright, let them pass.” As soon as these words were spoken, the drawbridge over the moat lowered, and a wooden plank spanned both ends.
Was it really that simple for them to come in?
Their confident attitude seemed entirely unconcerned by the possibility of spies.
However, as the black-mouthed monster had said earlier, the city was full of monsters, and in case of conflict, everyone would fight. A spy would have no chance of surviving an escape from the city.
That’s probably why the Empire had stopped smuggling traitors into the city.
Glancing at the rotting corpses hanging in the moat below the city wall, Tillysha considered this, holding Yimi’s hand and preparing to enter, but noticed Yimi seemed to hesitate.
Looking at the back of Yimi, whose apron skirt rustled slightly, Tillysha remembered how this golden-haired loli had a terrible impression of the Demon Race, possibly because the cultists in this city radiated vibes similar to the Demon Race, leading Yimi to feel repulsed.
Moreover, seeing the grotesque state of those hanged people, Yimi started to feel physically ill.
“Don’t worry, just stay behind me,” Tillysha’s gentle voice flowed over Yimi like a warm stream. Yimi, sensing the warmth in the golden-haired girl’s hand, obediently let Tillysha lead her into the city.
“Tch, these two women definitely seem suspicious. They’re probably relatives of some noble family,” after entering the city, the soldiers closed the gates. Tillysha saw the black-mouthed man who had questioned her earlier descending from the watchtower.
“Heh, buddy, you must be new to this gate duty,” another blue-skinned humanoid monster joked.
“Huh? How can you tell?”
“Just look at them! Folks who show off their clothing like that could never be spies.” The blue-skinned man shrugged.
“Huh? Why is that?”
“Think about it. If you were some high-ranking official from the Empire, would you send spies dressed in their fancy fur robes to infiltrate the city? Common sense says no! On the contrary, the more pitiful their appearance, the less suspicion they’d draw.”
“So people who appear normal and haven’t deliberately harmed themselves or dressed like beggars actually have lower suspicion levels than those who look completely wretched,” the blue-skinned monster explained his experience.
“Didn’t we have a recent case? A merchant who claimed his goods were seized by some officer arrived here in tatters and full of injuries, seeking refuge? We exposed him within three days. Now he’s hanging below the moat, dried up.” The blue-skinned man chuckled, saying these words not just to the black-skinned monster but deliberately letting Tillysha and Yimi hear them.
“How did you expose him?”
“Simple. There are plenty of people in the city with similar stories. We deal with such cases daily, and they all share one common feature: they know their trade inside out because that’s how they survive. It’s hard to fake.”
“This spy was thorough; he did his homework before coming here. He even injured himself to look convincing and gave professional answers, but fake is fake. He was too composed, answering questions like he was reading from a script rather than from real experience.”
“Just as we suspected. Observing him further revealed many habits that exposed he wasn’t actually involved in trade. A little trick from us, and his true nature came to light.” The blue-skinned man smirked.
“There are plenty of people in the city with experiences similar to yours. So, it’s best to tell us the truth. Truth doesn’t need deception. Lies will always be lies.”
This is why they were so confident in letting the two women in. It’s a strategy similar to ‘closing the door before the fight’; once through the gates, spies’ exposure is inevitable, and the same applies to their eventual fate hanging on the drawbridge.
“Is there anything else you want to say? You two, follow me.”
Tillysha and Yimi followed the blue-skinned man while the black-skinned man returned to his watchtower duties.
Yimi quietly stayed behind Tillysha, keeping her distance from these ‘cultists’, repelled by their scent.
“Do I look scary to you?” Sensing Yimi’s movements, the blue-skinned monster didn’t mind and instead chuckled, picking up on the topic himself.
“I can tell, you two are different.”
“Setting aside your clothing and appearance, your lack of fear stands out remarkably.”
“Most common villagers freeze in fright upon seeing us, screaming in their nightmares at night.” As they walked, the blue-skinned man spoke.
“Yet you let us in anyway,” Tillysha replied gently.
“Right. Know why I let you through? Because you’re not pretending, hiding nothing. You’re exactly what and who you are—no sob stories, no fake personas, direct and open.”
“Hear me out. Regardless of who you were, now that you’ve entered the city, everything follows our rules.”
“This is the local police station,” the blue-skinned man pointed to a round dome building. It appeared to have once been a dance hall, repurposed into a police station. There were still old dance equipment inside, with the words ‘Punish Evils, Remove Wickedness’ clearly written in the common language at the entrance.
“Of course, this isn’t the city’s only station. There are many others throughout the city.”
Tillysha noticed various spear-wielding creatures on patrol inside the station. When they saw the blue-skinned man, their gazes lingered briefly on Tillysha before returning to him, offering a respectful salutation.
Tillysha had assumed Mosso City had lost its order, now overrun by beast-like creatures as Empire propaganda implied, but what she saw differed greatly from her expectations.
No chaos, only prosperity. The streets were filled mostly with the mutated ‘beasts’, but surprisingly, their behavior was no different from ordinary people, as if they were still human, following laws and order.
Additionally, there were some regular, unmutated humans. Yet, whether human or beast, there appeared to be no prejudice. The gazes lingering on Tillysha and Yimi were merely due to their stunning beauty, not disdain for not being beasts.
This apparent coexistence between beast and man astonished Tillysha.
“Human or not, others always judge us different,” the ingrained notion of humanity, a concept common to many races.
These beasts might have been human once but after transforming into demons, their perspectives and thoughts would surely change. They would naturally identify more with others of their kind, fostering animosity towards ordinary humans after such physical changes, a normal phenomenon.
Yet, in this city, such a phenomenon did not exist.
Tillysha had a premonition that these beasts and humans might share differences, yet they all had a common goal, more accurately a common enemy.
This shared enemy pushed them to abandon all prejudice, fostering harmony despite differences.
Their common enemy: the Empire.
All were driven to this city with nowhere else to go by the Empire, and the oppression of the Empire would rouse even the most complacent of people to resist instinctively.
“Ho, don’t mind it, I never avoid this question,” seeing Tillysha’s hesitation to talk about his transformation, the blue-skinned man chuckled.
“Rather, it’s my badge, my pride.”
“Know what? I used to be a porter. Back then, I naively believed that as long as I worked hard, I wouldn’t go hungry.”
“Swallowing broken teeth, enduring bullying and oppression could only squeeze out a laugh as an excuse, until I realized one day the problem wasn’t about how hard I worked.”
“This isn’t a curse, but a blessing.” The man revealed his grotesque fangs with pride. “Even the Seven Saints couldn’t bear the Empire’s disregard for human lives, so they bestowed these wretched souls with the power to rebel against this colossal beast.”
“Now, we aren’t the pathetic ones who could do nothing but cry in silence.”
“This power is a blessing from the Seven Saints, their command to overthrow the corrupt Empire.”
“We’ll return a hundredfold to those detestable nobles what they owe us!” Speaking of this, the blue-skinned man’s teeth clenched in fury, the sound of them grinding together making everyone’s skin crawl.
Tillysha looked at him calmly but remained silent.
“Then what?” After a while, Tillysha asked.
“Huh?”
“What will you do if you succeed in your revenge?”
“What? Hoho, those nobles and their families will forever be slaves, tasting our pain, repenting for all eternity!”
“But wouldn’t that just start another cycle?”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.” Tillysha shook her head and didn’t say anything further.
“Since you’ve come here, it shows you’ve also suffered oppression from the Empire. The residential registration station is nearby, tell me, what did you two do before?”
“Remember what I told you before. You’re better off telling the truth. I’ve met all kinds. Lying isn’t going to fool me.”
“Being almost accused of being a cultist just because we ride in carriages; does that count?”
“Besides that?” The blue-skinned man listened calmly.
“We aren’t from the Empire.”
“Not from the Empire? What are you doing here?” The blue-skinned man’s eyebrows immediately scrunched. “Miss, didn’t you understand? This place isn’t a tourist site.”
“Could I have a word with your leader?”
“Wait a minute, you?” The blue-skinned man seemed startled, completely not expecting Tillysha to say this.
“Ha? Miss, we don’t even know your identity or background yet. Do you really think you’ll get to see our commander? Do you have the qualifications?”
“Was that revenge talk just now also your commander’s thoughts?”
“Of course. Our commander has declared we’ll take back everything rightfully ours, including fairness!”
“Seems… inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate?? What’s inappropriate about it??” The blue-skinned man became agitated, seemingly annoyed by Tillysha’s comment. “Should we just sit there and take it? Should we just let them bully us?”
“Mister, you mentioned fairness. So, do you want fairness, or simply revenge?”
“We want both.”
“So if you defeat the nobles and enslave them like the nobles used to you, the only real difference is that ‘nobility’ has changed ownership, but eventually, you will be overthrown too.”
“Haha, what a joke! They deserve it, and who says we will end up like them? Do you think everyone is those heartless nobles? We are not them!”
Hard to say.
Really hard to say.
Whoever gets into that position thinks the same, “I won’t be them,” until they’re in it.
The story of the dragon-slaying boy turning into a dragon is too common.
“Miss, your words are interesting.” Suddenly, another voice chimed in.
All eyes turned back instinctively.
Tillysha was slightly surprised. The person standing there was fully armored, his face concealed so it couldn’t be seen.
“Commander!” Seeing this strange man, the blue-skinned man immediately knelt down to pay respect.
