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　”Hey, did you hear? His Majesty collapsed.”

　In a tavern in Bestier, the capital of the beastman kingdom, a bear beastman speaks to a wolf beastman.

　”Yeah. I heard it’s because of the wounds he sustained from the battle with the Majin the other day.”

　The wolf beastman, being a gatekeeper at the royal castle, knew a bit more about the situation.

　”It seems he’s in a pretty bad state. Even if he pulls through, His Majesty will probably never be able to fight again.”

　The highest law that binds the beastmen of Bestier. That is—

　‘The Strong are Justice’

　The strong become king and show the path the country should take.

　A king who can no longer fight cannot continue to be the one to lead the beastmen.

　[BREAK]

　About a week ago, a lone Majin attacked this country. The Majin, who suddenly appeared right in the middle of a military training exercise for a national army company, annihilated that company in the blink of an eye. The company also included an elite unit known as the “Beast King Corps,” whose name was renowned even in other countries, but even that unit could only manage to stall the Majin.

　The Beastman King repelled that Majin in a desperate battle. Although he was able to drive the Majin away, the Beastman King lost his dominant hand. Furthermore, the Majin left a parting gift: a powerful curse on the Beastman King.

　Immediately after the battle, the Beastman King could still walk on his own, but the Majin’s curse gradually spread throughout his body, and now he is unable to even stand up.

　”Which means…”

　”Yes. The War God Martial Arts Tournament will be held. There should be an official announcement soon.”

　The War God Martial Arts Tournament—a competition where the strong of this country gather to determine the “Strongest.”

　The winner of the tournament receives the divine protection of the War God and becomes the king of this country.

　When the Beastman King, for whatever reason, can no longer maintain his authority, the War God Martial Arts Tournament is held, and the next king is immediately chosen. This is because the Beastman King must be the strongest in the country.

　However, this does not mean that the weak or those who can no longer fight are oppressed in this country.

　”I want His Majesty to get some proper rest.”

　”Yeah. He’s the one who worked so hard for this country, after all. If I become the next king, I’ll focus on healing His Majesty, too.”

　The strong are the admiration of the people, beings to be respected.

　On the other hand, from the perspective of the strong, the weak are subjects of protection, beings to be guarded.

　”So you’ll be participating as well, I take it.”

　”Of course. And you say that, but your own fighting spirit is rising, isn’t it? You plan on entering, right?”

　”It’s been a while since the last War God Martial Arts Tournament. There’s no way I’d miss it.”

　Beastmen are a race drawn to the strong. Winning the War God Martial Arts Tournament makes you king, but even just participating in the main tournament is effective enough. It allows one to have their strength recognized by those around them, and it also serves as an appeal to the opposite sex. That’s why any beastman confident in their skills, regardless of gender, enters the tournament.

　”Speaking of which, I wonder if that person will come back?”

　”Are you talking about Her Highness the Princess?”

　”Yeah, that’s right. I know she left the country after a fight with His Majesty, but her own father is bedridden with a curse. She’s got to come back, right? If she does, she’ll definitely enter the tournament.”

　”You’re right. Her Highness did want to have her own strength acknowledged…”

　[BREAK]

　This country once had a king called the “War God.” It is said the War God could break an orichalcum sword with a knife hand, and his ultra-high-speed fists would whip up the surrounding air, becoming flying fists that could crush even distant enemies. After his death, his power was recognized by the highest god of this world, and he was deified as the god who governs martial arts. He became a true War God.

　Furthermore, when the king who became the War God was born, he was clutching a small crystal in his hand. That anecdote spread throughout the country, and it became a custom to check a baby’s hands when they are born.

　And when a child was born to the current Beastman King, the people of Bestier were overjoyed. The princess was born clutching a small, burning red crystal in her hand. The day a truly strong beastman would become king again was near. Every beastman in the country thought so and watched over the princess’s growth.

　However, the results of the aptitude job inspection conducted when the princess turned three would drive the populace to despair.

　The princess did not have an aptitude for physical classes.

　Her aptitude was for classes that handle magic.

　Most beastmen in Bestier are of physical classes. To begin with, beastmen tend to have an aptitude for physical classes. There are some who have an aptitude for magic-based classes, but if they fight a beastman with an aptitude for a physical class, they will almost certainly lose, even at the same level. This is because against a physical class beastman who unleashes attacks with overwhelming speed, the magic class beastman is defeated before they can even cast their magic.

　Beastmen also prefer clashes of strength against strength. Due to this background, the use of magic is not permitted in the War God Martial Arts Tournament that decides the Beastman King.

　Contrary to the people’s despair, the princess grew up strong, to the point where no beastman of the same age could match her. As expected of someone like the War God, she possessed a natural gift. However, once her body had grown to a certain extent, she could no longer win against physical class beastmen of the same level range. This was because she had acquired magic-based skills, which boosted her magical attack power and other related stats, while her physical stats became harder to raise.

　But the princess did not give up. Through great effort, she mastered a way to cast magic at high speeds, as well as martial arts that incorporated magic. Once again, there was no one who could defeat the princess.

　It was fine up to that point, but her father, the Beastman King, did not allow it. He forbade the princess from using magic in battle. He told her that as a beastman, she should follow the “Laws set by the War God” and fight only with her own martial prowess. To this, the princess retorted—

　”Magic is my power too-nya! What’s wrong with fighting with my own power-nya!?”

　With those parting words to the king, she stormed out of the country that would not acknowledge her power.

　[BREAK]

　”If the rules were changed to allow magic and anything else, Her Highness the Princess would surely win the War God Martial Arts Tournament in His Majesty’s absence, wouldn’t she?”

　”No doubt about it. I couldn’t beat Her Highness once, and she’s ten years younger than me. Well, in a fight where magic was forbidden, I never lost, but…”

　The bear beastman, who had once been the princess’s combat training partner, says her name nostalgically.

　[BREAK]

　”I wonder if she’s doing well, Meldy-sama.”