Chapter 509: Tigers

"And what do you two think you're doing?!" Eiro asked with a growling voice, glaring at the two beastmen in front of him. They looked back at him startled, since Eiro appeared in front of them as if he teleported there within an instant. But one of them was able to quickly get a grasp of what was going on, and who this man in front of them was.

"Well, I guess this is a good chance. We will buy that slave from you, name any price." He said, pointing at Leon in the process. The nobles that knew Eiro already, and in turn also knew about Leon, were muttering amongst themselves. They were aware of Eiro's power, and some even were aware of his temper.

Eiro could see Gilharts and Kiliars standing in the corner of the room near the king of their kingdom, just smirking to themselves about what was going on. But he didn't want to deal with them for now, and simply sighed in response.

"I know what's going on here, but I just want to point out... Leon isn't my 'slave'. Slavery is illegal in Skyhart." Eiro explained, as he turned around to pick up Leon off of Lugo's back. He brought him a bit closer toward the two men in front of him, knowing that they would never be able to do anything to Leon while he was holding him like this.

The two beastmen stared at Eiro confused, "Then why is that child here? Did you not force him to mature this early to have a powerful force..?"

Eiro laughed and shook his head immediately, "No, of course I didn't. I'm Leon's father. Not biologically of course, I'm not a beastman as you can see, but I'm still his father. I heard his first words, I saw his first steps. I've been there for him nearly every day of his life for eight years. There were some situations with his health that we needed to be treated, and that treatment seemed to have caused him to mature earlier than normal." The Demon explained, and the two beastmen just kept staring back at Eiro.

Solomon was going to run up to Eiro to make sure that he didn't kill these two in the middle of this hall, but he had to stop, stunned at Eiro's tone of voice. He didn't expect his friend to be able to remain genuinely calm like this.

Eiro turned around and smiled at the people around him, "I apologize for raising my voice so suddenly. Please continue your celebrations." Eiro exclaimed, as he slowly looked at the two beastmen, "Can I ask you two to accompany me to the balcony, to have a proper conversation about this?"

The two of them looked back at Eiro confused, but soon agreed, since they really wanted to understand the situation. Their goal was to save a young child slave, after all. Eiro left Avalin with Solomon, and walked out onto the balcony with Leon in his arms as well as the two beastmen. Eiro took a deep breath as he turned around, looking at these two men.

"I know that you two are most likely used to seeing beastmen as nothing but slaves. And yes, the people in this country are still not particularly... well, happy seeing beastmen around. They're rare this far up north, you know?" Eiro explained, "But again, Leon isn't a slave. He's my son."

"...Why would you raise a child that is not yours?" One of the two asked, and Eiro smiled back at them, "But Leon is my child, in nearly every conceivable way, just not in that one single respect."

"Do you think we would just believe something like that?" The other beastman said, the one that was relatively silent until now. His friend looked at him with a deep frown, since he seemed more convinced that Eiro was telling the truth, "Do not be so rude, Hijar."

"Oh come on, he's a human! All they do is lie and steal, and-"

Eiro interrupted the man in front of him with nothing but a laugh, and the two beastmen looked at him confused, "What are you laughing about?"

"The fact that you really think I'm human. Have you ever seen a human with rainbow-colored hair like mine? I'm not going to tell you what I truly am, but I just need to make it clear, I am not a human. And either way, things like this matter quite little to me. The one I love is the descendant of an angel, the only man I will ever consider a parent was labeled a traitor to people by ignoring matters such as a being's race when he saved it. We all breathe the same air, the all walk the same ground. As long as you don't try to hurt me, I will not try to hurt you. That's the philosophy I try to live by, even if it gets hard sometimes." Eiro explained, as he looked at Leon resting in his arms, nearly falling asleep in even a situation like this, "I am Solomon's, this kingdom's ruler, candidate for the tournament of this country that is soon to happen. The only reason why I am joining that tournament is to give me the chance to make a difference, to change this world into a better, safer place for my children and their loved ones to live in." Eiro explained with a gentle, genuine smile. He was happy that he could explain his views to these two strangers like this without growing uncontrollably angry. He managed to ignore his own thoughts, and was actively compassionate to strangers for once. It was a weird, but nice, feeling.

The two beastmen in front of Eiro didn't know what to say exactly to what he had just told them. It took a few moments for them to look at each other, coming to a conclusion.

"We apologize for our assumptions. We thought you were like the nobles we know. You seem kind. But there is something that I must ask of you. The two of us are also candidates placed into our own country's tournament by our king. During the 'entertainment' portion of tonight's party, will you do us the honor of battling one of us?" One of them, the older of the two, asked. The younger, Hijar, didn't seem that excited about it, though, but he just went along with it for now.

"I would gladly battle the two of you."

"The two of us? What, you gonna fight twice in a row?" Hijar scoffed, and Eiro softly smiled back, "Of course not. You two are a team, aren't you? If you are fine with it, I wouldn't mind fighting the two of you at once." Eiro pointed out with a light smile. The older of the two laughed in kind, realising that Eiro was clearly joking, but Hijar wasn't that understanding.

"Hah, right! I bet you won't even be able to beat me in a one on one fight, and I'm way weaker than my brother. He's definitely going to win the tournament. I'd be surprised if you came in even third in yours." Hijar said with a grin, but Eiro simply smiled back, "Then let's test that later, shall we? Hijar, would you like to fight against me during the entertainment part later?"

"Fine! But when I win, you have to bow down to me and my brother and, in front of everyone, announce that we are superior to you in every way." Hijar exclaimed. While his brother was embarrassed by what he said, Eiro couldn't help himself but smile. He could definitely imagine Arc saying something similar to these two.

"Alright. And if I win, you two will sit down with me and explain some things about your culture to me. I was planning on travelling south to learn more about beastmen anyway, and having you two explain some things, such as those aspects of your culture that you wouldn't find written down in books, would be helpful to me for now. You two are from the tiger clan, correct?"

"...I would be happy to do that anyway." The older of the two explained, "If it's for that young one, then that's not an issue."

"Thank you. But there is little else I want from you two, so that is the only thing I can ask."

Hijar scoffed, "You realize that this means that once you lose, we won't teach you that stuff, right?"

"Hm? Ah, of course. But don't worry, I won't lose." Eiro said bluntly, as he stepped past the brothers, "Ah sorry, I caught the young one's name, but what about you?"

"My name is Biril." The beastman replied immediately, and Eiro smiled at him, "Biril and Hijar, then. My name is Eiro, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Eiro? Your name is Eiro? But-" Hijar exclaimed, "Isn't it seen as disrespectful to name your children that on this continent? Who in their right mind would..?"

"It's a name given to me by my children, actually. We met under rather complicated circumstances." Eiro explained, as he turned back around and made his way back to the main hall where the party was still continuing on, while Biril and Hijar were standing there, perplexed after meeting someone as unique as Eiro clearly was. The Demon looked at his son with a smile, "Those two were beastmen like you, wasn't that exciting?"

"...They're scary..." Leon muttered. Eiro figured that he thought something along these lines, as he was shivering and silent throughout that whole conversation. Eiro smiled at him as he set him down onto the ground next to Avalin, "Don't worry, you don't need to be scared of them. They seem like good people to me."