I Raised the Beast Well

Translator/editor: ruby

Aymon’s speech was so natural that Maharin didn’t even notice something was off.

“Aha. From the forest.”

Maharin glanced up at the sky to the east as if thinking about something.

I heard that the Empire recently subjugated the forested areas of the eastern border, so he must be from there. Haven’t they decided on the property transfer yet?

Aymon looked down at Maharin’s hand and gently took it. He’d never studied human etiquette, but he could make do with his sloppy manners.

“Nice to meet you, Aymon. If there’s anything you’re confused about around here, you can ask me. I don’t know my way around well either yet, but the Empire is very tricky in itself.”

He said in a friendly yet inwardly dismissive tone, grinning. He tightly squeezed Aymon’s hand.

No one could beat me when it comes to strength.

They would probably be meeting at banquets or conferences in the future, so it would be good to start keeping him suppressed now.

It was among the delegates from the belligerent kingdom, not those of writing and smarts, that the pecking order was secretly decided.

Therefore, Maharin was fighting a psychological battle, although one he had to fight alone because Aymon didn’t notice it.

Aymon looked down at Maharin’s hand, still tightly clutching his own.

“…….”

What kind of strange greeting is this?

The man’s hand was as rough and hard as a rock.

To Aymon, used to Belinda’s soft, delicate hands, the bumpy handshake was very unpleasant.

Humans are strange.

Coming to a simple conclusion, he roughly squeezed back. If a human greeting was like this, he was going to do the same.

“Argh!”

Maharin roared as his bones broke with a cracking sound.

Aymon let him go, frowning at the sudden noise.

Would he have to hear this loud shout every time he greeted someone? Humans with their annoying greetings.

Maharin tried to smile as if nothing had happened.

“Haha, you’re very strong!”

He groaned, popping back his dangling fingers.

“This much pain is nothing to me! I hunt for fun!”

He said, enduring the pain to salvage the last bit of pride he had left.

A representative from another kingdom’s delegation, who had been watching Aymon and Maharin’s greetings, also approached them with a curious expression.

Since Aymon and Maharin were a similar size, he’d been wondering who would have the upper hand, but it was confirmed just now.

At the same time, he had a strange competitiveness in him, as a man of nomadic descent who commanded the steppes.

“I’m Robil. That was amazing, and you look so young too! I suppose you’re the heir of your tribe since you came here?”

Aymon looked down at him again, sighed inwardly, and took his hand.

“Aymon Arkin. Eighteen years old. Not an heir.”

Aymon muttered all the answers politely.

He was a chief, not an heir.

One must go through all these things to meet the Emperor. His elder, who met the Emperor once a year, must have also experienced this situation.

The man named Robil threw his head back and laughed.

“Eighteen years old! This guy! You aren’t a young man, you’re a boy!”

Robil clutched his hand tightly. He couldn’t be beaten with strength. Maharin from Tarkan might not have, but he was confident that he could endure it.

Aymon sighed to himself and squeezed his hand.

“….That really was amazing!”

The sound of bones breaking came again. Robil’s stiff face trembled.

This isn’t any ordinary guy!

The boy’s strength wasn’t that great, but it was enough to give him cold sweats.

At least he hadn’t screamed as Maharin did, so he was superior to him in that respect. That was how Robil justified himself.

Soon, delegations from around the continent began to gather around Aymon.

“Boy! I’m from the Kingdom of Riksha, my name–”

“Hello! I’m a visitor from Lowry–”

Aymon broke all of their finger bones with a look of annoyance.

Meanwhile, Prince Lart was bored.

It was a three-day event to coordinate thoughts with over forty delegates face to face – in what way, what kind, and how much tribute they would offer, and how the Empire would use them.

His father, the Emperor, was handling them skillfully, but once he became emperor, it was something he would have to do.

In order to handle the cunning delegates, he had to learn from his father’s attitude towards them.

That’s why the empty-eyed Lart was watching his father’s meetings with the delegates.

To make matters worse, in a month, they’d have to bring together all the lords in the Empire for a meeting that wouldn’t really be a meeting.

Suddenly, he heard a commotion outside the window.

He didn’t pay it thought at first but finally turned his head to the men’s laughter and aggressive screaming.

Why were they being so loud? Didn’t they know that they were in the imperial palace of a great empire?

Soon, Lart forgot where he was and jumped out of his seat.

“Aymon?”

Aymon was standing outside the window, steadily breaking finger bones in his human form.

What the hell is Aymon doing over there?!

It was an incomprehensible situation.

He didn’t like humans, and Lart knew very well that he only visited Belinda’s guest palace, so why was he here?

Lart suspected that he might’ve just been a delegate that resembled Aymon but was soon hit by the blase expression and overpowering gaze.

He was now even more convinced that such a beautiful, smooth face wasn’t an everyday sight.

It was Aymon. It was definitely Aymon, though Lart had no idea what he was doing there.

As he gaped with a dumbfounded face, there was a sharp reproval from the other side.

“Prince, what kind of flippant behavior was that?”

The Emperor scolded him in a cold voice. Only then did Lart understand the situation and go back to his seat calmly.

“I’m sorry for my suddenness, Your Majesty.”

He said quietly, with an awkward laugh.

‘What is it?”

“The Shinsu chief seems to be standing in the middle of the delegation.”

And he was hurting the humans a lot.

The Emperor, like Lart, jumped out of his seat at the exact right moment.

Aymon had just smashed about seven of a delegate’s finger bones.

Starting from the entrance, silence spread over the crowd. Everyone was paying attention to the Emperor who had just come out of the hall.

Aymon, the “heir from the forest”, was no longer the subject of attention, as eyes were glued to every one of the Emperor’s steps.

The man next to Aymon tapped him on the shoulder and whispered.

“He is the Emperor. Have you ever seen him?”

Aymon also tapped him on the shoulder, almost making him lose his balance.

“I have.”

He nodded coolly, with his arms crossed.

He didn’t know the Emperor. Seeing him at the hunting competition and a party he secretly followed Belinda to was already enough for him.

Already quite annoyed by the wait, Aymon had a thought that he should just kidnap the Emperor so he could talk to him alone.

The Emperor briefly caught Aymon’s eyes and bowed his head.

Exclamations broke out everywhere.

“Gasp!”

“Huh?”

The Emperor, who had always been arrogant and confident, had just bowed to someone. Even the Prince next to him, who was more arrogant and unruly still, was setting an example and bowing down completely.

Everyone looked to where the greetings were directed. It was at a boy with a disinterested expression, the one from the forest who had excitedly broken everyone’s bones.

A servant lying on the floor coughed, sending a message to those who were still standing up, frozen.

As the delegates bowed down, everyone else also came to their senses and began bowing belatedly.

After the Emperor had set an example, they couldn’t just stay standing up.

No one knew what the hell was going on or who that person was, but this was what they had to do.

“I greet Shinsu, the great sun, the ruler of the forest.”

The Emperor said with a smile, looking down.

More astonished gasps came from the delegation.

A Shinsu? He was a Shinsu?! The Shinsu were the only tribe to which the Emperor bowed his head. They were the heirs of the power of God, the leopard Shinsu.

Everyone gulped with a pale face.

“I’m getting tired of this… Do I have to wait here for any longer?”

Aymon asked insensitively, standing alone among the bowed men.

For a moment, the man next to Aymon gulped. He hadn’t expected that.

However, his behavior towards the Emperor had made it clear.

He was really that Shinsu!

The person he’d been talking to and tapping on the shoulder was that violent, cruel Shinsu!

It was fortunate that he had grabbed his hand and not his neck. In that case, he could have ended his life on the spot.

A cold sweat ran down his neck.

He didn’t even dare steal a sideways look at Aymon for fear of causing trouble.

The Emperor beckoned Aymon towards the palace.

“If you had told me in advance, I would have made preparations, so I’m sorry this is so little. Let’s go inside.”

Aymon was guided towards the hall.

Everyone’s eyes followed him like shadows, especially those who’d talked to him.

Lart grinned and addressed Aymon in a friendly voice.

“What brings you all the way here?”

“Inside.”

They would talk inside. Aymon continued on without a word.

The delegation breathed a long sigh after they saw them off into the palace.

What had just happened?

The boy eating cherry pie, who introduced himself as an heir of the forest, suddenly became a great Shinsu and was invited into the palace by the Emperor himself.

It was like they had been possessed.

The first one to speak was Maharin from Tarkan. He excitedly gave a loud shout.

“I was the first one to shake the Shinsu’s hand!”

He laughed with a flushed face, unable to stand the happiness.

“I was the first one whose bones he broke!”

As absurd as it might sound, some stared at him with genuine envy.