Sinful Pride - Volume 1 Chapter 14 How To Be Human

‘Human…’ Keita was sure his body and soul was that of a human. When he heard the Priest Koba talk with Nao, he felt a bit relieved. Koba had said that Arcione won’t help him heal those who aren’t human. That meant even to her eyes, Keita was a normal human boy.

“That’s my line. You are not a half-elf and neither are you human.” he let his hostility show. He was both angry and scared. Even if his body and soul were that of a human, his memories as Pride were still there. They were a part of him that he could not deny or forget.

“How scary!” Reika jumped, still mocking him. “There is no point denying it. I know you are not human. What I can’t figure out is how you tricked Arcione into healing you. Only a God could trick another God, but you are not one. Not only would you have died without help, your magic power is not nearly strong enough. So tell me. How did you trick a God?” her speech was still broken. Her voice was changing tones, as if she was using different people’s voices.

“A Shape-sifter?” Keita asked in astonishment.

“Hmm? How did you figure it out? Have you met a Shape-sifter before? There are not a lot of us left.” the girl was astonished.

‘I am surprised there are any of you left. After all, me and Envy were the ones who hunted you to near extinction.’

A long time ago, the Demons have massacred Shape-sifters in the thousands. Envy had determined that Shape-sifters were too dangerous to be left alone. They didn’t possess strong magic power like L.u.s.t who was a Demon, but their ability to change into anyone could bring down empires.

Keita kept silent.

“You won’t answer? Well, that’s fine. If you tell me what you are, I could tell you how I figured it out though?” Reika proposed in a playful tone.

Keita was curious. She was very confident that he wasn’t a human and she was right in a sense. Now that he knew that she was a Shape-sifter, he didn’t have to worry about her too much. There were ways to force her to change into someone else and prove to others that she wasn’t human. Very painful methods, that L.u.s.t and Envy had researched in the past.

“I am human.” Keita proclaimed. “I haven’t always been one…” he added. “I won’t say anything else.”

“So you transformed to one? Or mutated…? But for even your soul to change into a human’s…” Reika’s tone changed. She was thinking out loud with a serious expression. She didn’t doubt Keita’s words. She probably already figured that it was something crazy.

“It’s your turn. How did you figure it out?” Keita didn’t completely drop his guard but he determined that exchanging information like this was a good idea.

“Well, I guess it’s fine to tell you. You made a few rookie mistakes. I heard from the people at the bridge. We are humans after all, is what you said.” She mimicked Keita’s voice. “Countries, cities, religion. There are many things splitting humans. They don’t refer to themselves as a race often.” Reika said, moving her finger left and right.

‘Now that I think about it, L.u.s.t said the same thing once. Demons look very different from each other. Is that the reason? The same must be for Shape-sifters who can be anything…’ Keita thought while listening.

“The other mistake you made was when Anne asked you how much do you hate Orcs.” Now she mimicked Anne’s voice. “You spoke as if Orcs were equal to humans. That’s a mistake. You made the others realize that the Orcs that killed their friends had their friends killed by them.”

“Is that bad? Isn’t that the essence in war?” Keita asked. His hostility has disappeared and he was leisurely talking with the Shape-sifter, even drinking the water she gave him. He seemed… happy. He was happy he finally found someone to talk about these things that he couldn’t say anything to anyone. Even Helene.

“Well it’s true but… How do I put it… Have you ever been among human veterans who fought against other human kingdoms?”

Keita felt something squeezing in his chest. As if a dark cloud was inside his body. He knew what Reika was going to say and looked down, hiding his face in shame.

“They jump at the sound of two metals hitting each other. They scream in their sleep and wake up in cold sweat. I’ve been in a human army before. What one of them told me was that it felt like even nature is going against them. It was not a happy experience.” Reika’s voice darkened as she was speaking. “That man told me to only fight for a good cause such as Arcione’s cause, to avoid succ.u.mbing to the pressures of war… I wasn’t there to fight of course. I just transformed to a human soldier to pass to another country and slipped away as soon as the battle started.” she added.

“So what you are saying is humans don’t see other races as the same as them but more like animals and such… In order to avoid the trauma similar to killing a human…” Keita concluded.

“That’s how it is.” Reika changed to her usual cheerful voice. “Just so you know, Nao isn’t just an idiot. We came from the same village. He was born in Demi-human territories and of course knows that I am a Shape-sifter. He doesn’t really know how to interact with humans, that’s why he seems a little weird. But he is also stupidly honest so he just says what’s in his mind. That’s why he had his doubts that you were human.” Reika seemed quite happy talking about Nao. “Koba has a bit of a temper but he is a good guy and Koba’s first human friend. Anne I don’t know very well. We teamed up with her when the Orcs attacked. Also there is Lia. She is a mage. She has good skills for her age. She also seems nice.”

‘She talks a lot. Is that a mask or her true self?’ Keita thought.

“So do you want to come to our party?” Reika asked.

“I…” Keita was lost for words. It was too sudden.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t talk about it with the others?” he asked after a pause.

“We already talked about it on our way to find you. Captain Meliacs basically begged us to help you. As well as an elder and some others that were at the bridge. Nao thinks you are a good guy so it’s already decided.” she smiled. It was normal smile. Unlike the one she showed before.

“Actually there is a place I want to go to. Having a party with me will be nice.” Keita answered.

“Where?” Reika seemed a bit confused.

“Where the Orc’s general is.”