Chapter 185

The king blamed the queen.

The queen blamed the king.

They cursed each other’s blood, accused each other of sins, and stabbed each other with thorns called words.

And in between them stood a boy with cow horns, feeling it was all his fault.

Thinking someone like him should have never been born.

He kept asking the Dragon Goddess why he was born, why he had these horns, but she only said that all life has a reason for existing.

So the boy just lived like a walking corpse, waiting to someday understand his purpose… until the king, who saw him as a thorn in his side, threw him into a maze built beneath the palace.

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Hearing rumors of a monster—a cow beastman—I arrived at a city-state on an island off the mainland.

The city-state of Minoa was once a collection of modest villages 300 years ago, but now it thrived thanks to its fertile southern plains and abundant marine resources, developing into a bustling city-state.

Being on an island made it relatively safe from invasions, allowing their power to steadily grow. Their advancements in architecture were especially impressive—cutting rocks into proper stones and using them to build massive structures.

Their buildings were much larger than elsewhere, likely due to the sturdy foundations or their use of stone pillars instead of wooden ones.

“Holy crap, what a palace!”

It rivaled even the Divine Hall’s temples in size, dominating the city center—a square building over 160 meters long on one side alone. Humanity’s progress was faster than I thought.

Humans are AMAZING!!

Though, aside from their awesomeness, there was something slightly troubling about this city…

“Wow, are you a visitor? You must be a cow beastman with those horns—welcome to Minoa!”

A friendly woman smiled at me, but I awkwardly turned away, troubled by her attire.

Was it the warm climate? Everyone here dressed so… minimally. Like, is that even enough fabric? Or is it just missing entirely?!

The men wore shorts, and the women practically walked around topless!

Too revealing! This place!

Shaking my head, I decided to move on. First things first: find the rumored monster. Can’t stay in this scandalous place too long!

Let’s head to the Life Temple—it must exist in a city like this, right?

“Excuse me, where is the Life Temple in this city?”

“Life Temple?”

After thinking for a moment, the scantily-clad woman replied:

“Oh! The temple dedicated to the Dragon Goddess? If you go straight down Central Avenue and reach the Square, you’ll find it easily.”

Dragon Goddess? What now?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Arriving at the Life Temple—or rather, the Dragon Goddess’ temple—thankfully revealed people dressed more modestly.

Phew. Thank goodness. If they’d been wearing those skimpy outfits here too, it would’ve been truly awkward.

“What brings you here, young traveler?”

“Ah, excuse me. Is this the Life Temple?”

“Hmm? So you’re from outside these lands. Yes, this is where we worship the Lady of All Life known as the Dragon Goddess.”

“Others call her the Dragon Goddess.”

The priest chuckled lightly.

“It’s just a localized variation of faith, nothing to worry about. Quite unique though.”

“But why specifically the Dragon Goddess?”

Apparently, the truth might leak out if such stories spread—that the Dragon Goddess is actually a dragon!

“Originally, this island had primitive beliefs in a snake goddess and sacred bulls. When the teachings of the Life Goddess spread here and mixed with the lizardmen’s dragon deity beliefs… it all combined into the current Dragon Goddess faith. Snakes’ scales, bulls’ horns, and other influences merged into this result.”

Hmm, fascinating. A blend of local and external religions, plus the lizardmen’s Creator Dragon God.

“By the way, bulls?”

“Yes. Records say many of the island’s settlers were cattle beastmen, leading to reverence for bulls as a native religion.”

Bulls… Now that I think about it, the rumored ‘monster’ was described as a cow beastman. Could they be descendants?

“Thank you for explaining. One more question, if I may?”

“Of course! As a fellow cow beastman, I’ll answer whatever you ask.”

Hmm… They mistook my horns for being a cow beastman? Convenient.

“I heard rumors of a ‘monster’—a cow beastman—in this city. Do you know where they are?”

The priest’s expression darkened instantly.

“I don’t know where you heard such talk, but you shouldn’t believe those rumors. Just ignore them.”

Hmm? Why the secrecy? It feels like something forbidden.

But if it were truly hidden, how did the rumors spread externally?

“Just idle curiosity. If you give me a tiny hint, I’ll stop looking further.”

The priest hesitated, glancing around before speaking softly.

“Alright, if you promise to keep it completely secret…”

“I promise. I didn’t hear anything.”

“Fine… but you must keep this confidential.”

After reaffirming several times, the priest finally spoke:

“The ‘monster’ is the child of the king and queen—a cow beastman.”

“Hmm? The prince of this city-state?”

“No… Neither the king nor queen are beastmen, yet a baby with cow horns was born, so they refused to recognize him as prince.”

Hmm? A human and human producing a cow beastman?

An affair?! Drama time!!

“Was it the queen’s infidelity?”

“No, unlikely. Before the birth, they were the city’s most affectionate couple, and there was no suspicious suitor near the queen.”

Hmm. A human and human suddenly producing a cow beastman… Not impossible.

If either the king or queen had distant cow beastman ancestors, latent genes could reappear through generational inheritance.

“Did any cow beastmen appear among the king or queen’s parents or grandparents?”

“That… I’m not sure. There might be records somewhere.”

Fair enough. Humans might not fully grasp generational inheritance.

Anyway, I now understand why they’re keeping the ‘monster’ hush-hush.

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Yes, please keep this secret.”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t hear anything.”

Most importantly, I’ll remove the stigma from the cow beastman labeled as a product of infidelity.

With light steps, I headed toward the grand palace.

Now, where is the king in this city?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

After stealthily searching every corner of the palace—hundreds of rooms—I finally found the king.

It took time checking each room, but I enjoyed the sightseeing.

“Ugh…”

There he was, drinking wine alone in a small room, looking utterly pitiful.

A sad sack mourning his lost love, disheveled beyond recognition—no one would guess this was the ruler of a city.

Even passing by him twice, I didn’t realize he was the king until hearing the servants mention it.

“Queen… why did you cheat on me? What did I lack…?”

Watching the king drown his sorrows in drink was truly pathetic.

Thus..

“Pathetic state you’re in.”

Here, let me lend a helping hand.