Ball of Nothing

Chapter 554 - A Desperate King

It took Bob a while to reach Lycantopia. Thankfully, it was wee morning when he arrived and the sun was still not up. He quickly transformed into a small animal and snuck into the poorly defended city.

Lycantopia was nothing like the Eternal Dragon imagined it to be. If the U.N.U. was a picture of the dystopia, Lycantopia was a land infested with poverty. The people looked unhappy, sickly and positively starved. He never thought that he’d see another country with so many starving citizens after the incident with Rocket Mountains but here he was, looking at grim faces and bony were beasts lying everywhere.

Locating Jermine was difficult. There were simply so many people around and Bob couldn’t use his sense of smell to find the girl. He couldn’t transform into his human hybrid body because the beast folks didn’t look welcoming to outsiders. In fact, there was a strange lack of cohesiveness as a community.

"Master, I’ve finally reached Lycantopia. It’s a strange place."

Zero who had been meditating all night jolted when he received Bob’s message.

"How are Jermine and Monoman? Are they safe? What’s the situation like?"

Bob apologised. He hasn’t managed to locate them and was having difficulty doing so. When Zero learned about the strange situation in Lycantopia, he asked Wii and Mii to assist Bob so that he could reduce the search time. King Sharo had yet to reply and give Zero permission to see the womanising spriggan and Zero was waiting for news on either side to make his next move.

Within an hour after the mindscape sisters’ help, Bob found where Monoman and Jermine were. They weren’t living near the city of Lycantopia. Instead, they were hidden in a more derelict land by the city borders. The land was dead and barren, nothing grew there and Bob panicked for a while when he didn’t see anyone at the location Mii told him Jermine would be at.

The Eternal Dragon was busy reporting his findings to Mii when two large hands crept up from behind his tiny lizard form and captured him. Bob struggled to free himself and was about to blast the kidnapper with magic when he heard the familiar voice.

"I caught some food!"

Bob ceased his struggling and decided to turn back into his more familiar human hybrid form.

"Who are you calling food?! Zero sent me here to check on you after receiving your message and this is how you repay me?"

Monoman was startled when what he thought was a crummy lizard turned into a familiar brat. "That was fast," the warrior admitted. "I thought we’d have to put up with being stuck here for at least a few weeks before someone arrived."

Bob had to admit, given the current conditions, he didn’t know if they could survive a few more weeks, much less one.

"I’m the scout," he explained. "Zero wanted to know the situation. He’s currently in the middle of some important business when he received your message. I saw the city a little, what’s going on in Lycantopia? Also, you said Indra Seagloo was attacking, I don’t see any signs of war yet."

Monoman sighed and invited Bob down to the burrow with him. In the underground passageway, Bob was amazed by how homey the moles have made this place. If war truly broke out, this might just be the safest shelter in all of Lycantopia, not that anyone else knew.

"You’re here!" Jermine beamed when she sensed a familiar magic presence. "Here, have a seat! Let me introduce you to my family."

Bob awkwardly greeted Jermine’s parents and siblings when he was introduced as her travelling buddy in Derby Desert.

"I didn’t come here for chit-chat," he told the mole girl who looked a lot happier than he remembered her to be despite being trapped in Lycantopia.

The seriousness in Bob’s voice made everyone but Jermine stiffen. The mole girl only told her parents to prepare some water for the guest while she explained the situation to Bob briefly.

"King Gaon has forbidden anyone to enter or leave Lycantopia because too many tried to flee the war. Currently, the carnivores are battling it out with Indra Seagloo by the shores and are losing badly. Every day they will return with dead and casualties. I don’t know why King Goan insists on all the werebeasts staying in this country when some of us are simply useless and deadweight. I think he is afraid that Lycantopia would no longer need a king if he failed the war."

The more Bob listened to the stories Monoman and Jermine told about how the Lion werebeast king fought the sea dwellers, the more Bob was convinced that he was both a foolish but desperate leader.

"You have beastfolks who can fly, right?" Bob asked carefully. "Why don’t King Goan enlist their help to get the carnivores over the water? This way he can avoid smashing more sh.i.p.s and losing more men. It’s ridiculous to send those who can’t swim out in the first place."

Jermine sighed. "King Gaon is very conservative. The hierarchy of werebeasts follows the natural hunting order. Carnivores are at the top, most well respected and considered capable. Omnivores are next and the bottom of the food chain are herbivores. While the herbivores are tasked to work in the fields and low menial tasks, they aren’t expected to fight or defend territory. It’s a carnivore’s job. Those who cannot do their assigned tasks properly are considered outcasts and often will be disowned by their clan."

Bob nodded. Sounds like stereotypical chivalry. While it was admirable that King Gaon wants to stick to tradition, now was probably a bad time for it.

"Just curious," he asked. "What do mole people do for a living? Are you a carnivore, omnivore or a herbivore?"

Jermine smiled. "We’re omnivores by nature but because we’re blind and have no magic abilities, they class us on the same level as herbivores. For generations, mole folks are tasked with mining and digging. Most of my family are gravediggers. We’re not that poor during the war because there are plenty of graves that need digging and we get paid in food from the families of those who need graves dug."

Bob didn’t know what to think about her optimism. However, as far as he could tell, Jermine and her family were doing relatively ok for now. They could last for a week without issues and maybe longer if Zero needed more time.

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