Shit. How did I not notice that guy? His presence was strong. Was I too focused on other things? Did living here in a city make me soft? Ama and Arslan also looked shocked. They also didn’t sense him? Weird. I glanced toward the man. He stood in front of the crowd. He was large even in beastkin standards. He could match Börü in height and muscle. No, he could even exceed him. His hair was brown though he had white streaks running along it with two bear ears poking out. His hair was combed in a manner that evoked the traditional style of a Viking. I wondered if he combed himself or had a hairdresser. He had a thick beard I felt jealous of.

His face and bare arms were covered with scars and tattoos. He wore leather armor, rugged pants, and metal-tipped boots. One axe was on his back and the other slightly smaller one was hanging from the side. His aura reminded me of Duncan while his looks reminded me of someone I knew but I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it.

He looked at me like I was a piece of shit. I could still get out of here but now that I was seen by him, doing that would raise more trouble than it's worth.

“The human I have been hearing so much lately. Can I ask what are you doing with my man?”

He pointed toward the unconscious man behind us. Arslan got in front of me.

“May I ask why your man attacked a guest of ours?”

He crossed his arms.

“We are also guests here. And we are your kin. Yet you are on the human’s side?”

The crowd was increasing in number. He knew that and he was playing for it.

“I am one of the enforcers of Whifur. I only side with just side. That-“

Arslan wanted to speak more yet he cut him off.

“So a human is the just side? My man, our kin are unconscious and naked but you defend the human?”

This time, Amaterasu was the one who stepped up.

“I think you are misunderstanding-“

“Oh, so I am stupid? I can’t understand without a human lover telling me what is in front of me?”

I picked up Gökbörü. He was getting restless as the man released his mana and hostility. He was trying to pull the situation to make Arslan and Amaterasu look bad. It was clear that he was trying to paint a particular narrative, one where I was a human favored by the city's authorities. What we needed was for them to look neutral so they would be able to be seen as authority figures.

“Why don’t speak for yourself human? If you are innocent, you shouldn’t be afraid right?”

Oh, thank you for giving me a chance to speak. Dumbass.

“My name is Poyraz. May I learn yours?”

He spat on the ground.

“I don’t tell my name to humans.”

“Very well, nameless stranger. I was about to be taken in for questioning. Naturally, it wouldn’t be fair to hear only my side of the story.”

I left Gökbörü on the ground and stretched my hands to Amaterasu. She looked unsure for a second but I smiled.

“Bind.”

With her chanting my hands felt like they were glued together. I could barely sense the mana binding them together.

“We will take Poyraz and others to Captain Börü and Aine. After hearing both sides, they will decide on the punishment with other elders.”

Arslan grabbed my neck. His grip was loose. Despite that, the man didn’t seem to be satisfied. However, the crowd was now quieter and we had already drawn the narrative to our side.

“I was wondering where did you go Grizzon. You are really quick despite your looks. I turned around and you were gone. Haha!”

The crowd split open as Börü came into my vision. He wore a more formal attire than usual. His white shirt was new and had no wrinkles. He wore a dark blue jacket over it. His pants were straight-legged. He looked like an old gentleman going for a walk.

He put his hand over the man’s shoulder. He tried to avoid his hand and pull himself free but I saw veins bulge on Börü’s hand and the man stayed where he was despite the uncomfortable expression he was making.

“If you really wanted to see our city this badly, I would gladly guide you around here. But looks like we will have to delay it to another time. Arslan, what seems to be the problem?”

Arslan pushed me lightly. I moved forward despite the push not being strong enough to move me.

“Poyraz here is saying that these men attacked him out of nowhere. Since we can’t question them yet we can’t be sure if he is telling the truth.”

Börü stroked his beard with his free hand.

“I casted healing magic. They don’t have a lot of damage. They should wake up very soon.”

Amaterasu red light covered the unconscious man. Not soon after she finished her words, the first one opened his eyes slowly. He quickly realized that he was half naked and panicked.

“What? What is happening?”

He tried to break free.

“Calm down, Joni. Tell us what happened.”

Man shouted. Joni looked surprised and looked at me and the crowd. He thought for a minute.

“We… We heard this human calling beastkin primitive animals! He kept talking about how stupid we were! Our pride couldn’t take it and we attacked him to shut him up!”

With his words, the crowd’s murmuring skyrocketed. I heard people curse me.

“Quiet!”

Börü’s voice overpowered everyone else. I had never seen a crowd get silent this fast.

“Are there any eyewitnesses?”

He called out. To make things more complicated, a guy came forward. I recognized him. He was one of the first 6 I met.

“I was there when it happened. That human was really calling us animals! I was about to tell him to shut up but then those guys showed up.”

This testimony further complicated the situation and added weight to Joni's claims. The narrative was shifting, and the crowd's mood was becoming increasingly hostile. This didn’t look good. I was about to open my mouth and talk about the modern ways to question someone but Börü talked again:

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Are you sure?”

Man nodded his head without hesitation.

“You can sign a geass to confirm that then?”

All of them suddenly lost their color. Hhahaha! Damn, Börü you are one sneaky wolf. He could just say the geass at the beginning yet he held on to draw them into the worst position. This is too funny.

“I am waiting for an answer.”

I noticed Börü’s grip tighten as the eyewitness fidgeted around.

“I can’t…”

His voice was weak and barely audible.

“Why? Why not?”

On the contrary, Börü roared loud and proud. The crowd all looked at the eyewitness. The witness, feeling the weight of the situation and the crowd's gaze upon him, finally managed to stammer a response.

"I... I can't, because I didn't see clearly. It was dark, and I couldn't make out his face well."

Börü frowned. It was a very shitty excuse. With the senses beastkin had it was impossible for him to not make out my face while the sun was still out.

“But you heard him clearly?”

His stern gaze remained fixed on the witness.

"So you heard the insults clearly. Yet, you still refuse to sign a geass to confirm your testimony. Do you realize the gravity of making false accusations, especially against a guest of our city?"

The witness fidgeted even more, clearly feeling the mounting pressure. The crowd's mood had shifted from hostility toward you to skepticism about the accusers' claims. They were starting to see that something wasn't adding up.

“Enough with all this bullshit!”

The man Börü was holding broke free from his grip. I saw several more of the first group I saw move in front of the group.

“Grizzon. We are trying to conduct justice. What are you doing?”

Börü calmly spoke up. Grizzon on the contrary pointed toward me.

“Look all of you! Do you know what his kind have done to us? They drove us out of our homes! They enslaved us! They killed us! And yet you live like nothing happened while one of them walking in your city! We should be taking our weapons and armor and tear every human we could get our hands on!”

The crowd looked at each other with confused faces. His call for blood was… Awkwardly received. While I saw crowds turning wild with just one battle cry he had several problems.

1- Not all of the crowd was young males, which were the most easily excited group. Children, old people, and women made up most of the crowd surrounding us and they didn’t get excited as easily as young males.

2- Whifur was a safe haven. Most beastkin here was either rescued or moved here for a peaceful and safe life. No way they would risk all that for revenge.

3- His timing was also wrong. The crowd could easily see that he only moved after realizing this trial was in my favor.

An elderly woman, her voice carrying the weight of years of wisdom, stepped forward.

"We have come to Whifur to escape the horrors of our past, not to bring them with us. Let justice be done, but let it be done fairly and in accordance with our laws."

Her words resonated with the crowd, and more voices joined in agreement. The children, who had been frightened by the escalating tension, began to cry, and their mothers moved to comfort them. It was clear that the majority of the beastkin valued the peace and safety that Whifur provided, and they were not willing to jeopardize that for the sake of vengeance.

Grizzon, realizing that he had lost the crowd's support, stepped back, his frustration evident. Both the eyewitness and Joni looked at him with anticipating eyes but he ignored them. It was clear that both of them were from his group and now that they had no use for them he was trying to distance himself. Börü took charge of the situation once more.

“I am sorry Captain Börü, may I speak up?”

Ursara stepped forward. He was sweaty and looked anxious. When I looked at his face, I realized who Grizzon reminded me of. It was him. They looked similar. I looked back at Grizzon and I saw his face become red with anger.

“Of course, Ursara.”

Ursara pointed toward the unconscious man and the eyewitness.

“All of them are Uncle Grizzon’s man. The ones in back too.”

“You!”

Grizzon shouted. Uncle, huh.

“When you contacted me after all these years and said you wanted to make amends I should have known that something was wrong! You used me to get into Whifur.”

Ursara's revelation sent shockwaves through the crowd. Grizzon's own nephew had just exposed his true intentions and revealed his ulterior motives. The air was thick with tension as the beastkin community grappled with this betrayal. Börü, with his characteristic calm and composed demeanor, responded:

"Thank you, Ursara, for your honesty. It's essential that we maintain trust within our community. You had no intention of joining Black Claw didn’t you, Grizzon?”

Hmm, this is very spicy.

Putting everything I learned I was easily able to put together what happened. Grizzon and his group have different ideals than Black Claw. They think that they are weak. When they heard that humans were accepted on Black Claw, they thought they had a chance to draw beastkin in. Firstly, they used their connection to Ursara and claimed they wanted to join Black Claw. While Grizzon wasted Börü’s time his man went out to find me. That was where their plan failed as I was too strong. They tried to come up with a makeshift plan to accuse me but they failed.

Honestly, it was a stupid plan. Even if they could have overpowered me, what would they have done? Kill me? Torture me for information? Use me as a hostage? Something is missing.