"Dumba! Dumba!"

  In a wooden hut, an demihuman man with leopard ears shouted as he charged into the room.

  "Sumra! How many times have I told you not to call me Dumba! Call me Lambda!"

  "Yes, Dumba! No problem, Dumba!"

  "Dammit!"

  In the room stood a muscur man with tiger ears, though he was currently not wearing anything, with someone lyih him.

  "Isn't that the Big Guy's wife? How did she end up here with Lambda?"

  "Big Guy went hunting, and then... well, you know."

  "Ah..."

  This was a on occurrence among the demihuman tribe. Not only were some humans capturing them and turning them into sves, but the threat from wild beasts was also immense.

  The demihuman tribe had little development in terms of teology or knowledge. Unlike humans, who had magical tools and could even systematically learn bat teiques, some of the weaker demihumans were easily at risk of losing their lives even to beasts that weren’t necessarily cssified as monsters.

  Simply put, the demihumans had always relied on their reproductive ability to increase their numbers, and those who mao survive were slightly stronger, making it easier for them to live another day.

  "Big Guy moved too quickly and didn’t even have time to leave an heir. Before he left, he entrusted his wife to me, saying that if anything happeo him, she would be my responsibility."

  This, too, was ong the demihuman tribe. Widowhood was a luxury in their survival enviro—better to produce as many offspring as possible to ehe tribe's tinuation.

  "By the way, what brings you here?"

  "Ah, right! When I woke up this m, I found this oable."

  Sumra, the leopard man, handed a piece of paper to the tiger man, Lambda.

  "What is this?"

  "I don't know?"

  her of them had received any formal education, so they couldn’t uand the written words. The elegant script on the paper was as inprehensible to them as scribbles made by a newborn demihuman child using a twig.

  "It ’t be food, it?"

  "Don’t be so sure, there is a ce."

  Lambda brought the paper to his nose and s. There was a vague, indescribable st mixed with a hint of something pnt-like and a strange fragrance.

  "But this wouldn’t fill my stomaot even close."

  "Um..."

  Suddenly, the woman from the cat tribe, who had been lyih Lambda just moments ago, stood up and spoke.

  "This should be something called a ‘letter.’"

  "You read this?"

  "I learned a little from some cat tribe members who passed through the vilge where I used to live. I just about uand the words on this paper."

  "Then..."

  Without further hesitation, Lambda hahe ‘letter’ to the an.

  "...It says here that a try called... 'Abyssal Alliance' has beeablished, and both demihumans and monsters go there to bee citizens and receive prote."

  "Prote? This must be some prank, right? Maybe some kid just passed by your house and thought he'd have a little fun."

  "...No... the quality of this letter is the best I’ve ever seen. This pce doesn’t have anything like it..."

  Before the an could finish speaking, another demihuman man rushed into the room.

  "Lambda! Someone is ing!"

  "Who? Take me there!"

  Lambda quickly adjusted his clothes and ran out. However, the garments were simple, barely c the essential areas.

  "...Fox tribe?"

  Arriving at the edge of the vilge, he saw four women, one of whom had a pair of fox ears that blended so perfectly with her hair colour that they were almost indistinguishable. Thanks to the enhanced senses of the demihuman race, Lambda immediately reised them.

  "Why would a child from the Fox tribe e here? Did they escape...? No, it doesn’t look like it..."

  The child with pink fox ears was , with her her clothes nor body showing any signs of having fled.

  "Are you the leader here?"

  Misako looked at the tiger-man in front of her and asked.

  "Yes... what of it?"

  "Well... your strength isn’t impressive, but you’re still the stro around here..."

  Though she muttered to herself, Lambda's keen hearing immediately picked up on her words.

  "Hey! What are you saying about me, you little brat?"

  "Little brat!? I am old enough to be yrandmother several times over! ...Not that I’d ever want to be, even if you begged me."

  Due to the differen height, the se appeared as though a child was stamping her feet in frustration, angrily pointing at an adult as she spoke.

  "...Ahem! Back to the point. I assume you've received the letter? What do you think about what's written inside?"

  "Letter?"

  Lambda picked up the crumpled paper he still held in his hand.

  "Did you write this?"

  "Yes, what of it?"

  "So it was you! You little brat!"

  Lambda waved his hand and forcefully threw the letter to the ground.

  "I thought this was some prank from one of the vilge kids. I was going to find out who it was and teach them a lesson so they'd think twice before trying this again. But it turns out it’s from an outsider? Now you’ve do. I won’t show you any mercy!"

  He wouldn't treat the children of the vilge too harshly, but when it came to outsiders, he had no such reservations.

  After all, there were power struggles among the demihumans themselves. If you weren't careful, you could be invaded and stripped of everything, from food to people.

  "You..."

  "Hah?"

  "Who are you calling a little brat!!"

  With Misako's loud shout, an immediate shockwave spread outward, bending nearby trees. The birds irees scattered, fpping wildly as they took to the sky. Meanwhile, the demihumans watg nearby were blown away by the gust of wind, stumbling until only a few were still standing, propped up by a rge stone behind them.

  "...What... What is this magic?"

  Lambda, still barely standing, gasped in shock.

  Although he had no real cept or knowledge of "demon tribes," he had unwittingly hit the mark by correctly identifying Misako’s identity as a demon.

  But it wasn’t really magic. This was merely Misako’s suppressed demonic poressure, which she couldn’t tain in the heat of the moment.

  ‘Fine, now they should uand the differen strength between us. This should make things easier ter on...’

  Seeing the still slightly terrified expression on Lambda’s face, Misako thought to herself.

  "Now..."

  "Decided."

  Before Misako could finish speaking, Lambda cut her off.

  "Such a strange ability... You must be a special individual. A rare existence like this, and a female at that. I’ve finally met one. And as for others..."

  At this moment, a sense of foreboding crept over Misako.

  "If it’s you, I imagine you could bear strong offspring. This way, our demihuman tribe could grow stronger and no longer live in such hardship... Of course, I wouldn’t mistreat you. Your panions will be too..."

  Suddenly, Lambda's voice trailed off.