Harem King's Collection: Turning Beastkins Into Desperate Wives!-Chapter 59: Corper The Collapser

With a cheer of approval and clinking of mugs, the matter was settled, and the beasts integrated into the crowd around them to enjoy their new company for a few minutes..

Aster was beyond relieved they had avoided causing too much of a stir, but may have been celebrating a bit too prematurely.

The bear sitting at the table with Dally was a burly thing. He was definitely strong and muscular, but the beast carried a good bit of extra weight on him that gave him a stocky, powerful appearance.

Aster kept catching glimpses of the silent bear, looking his way with intrigue. The human felt like shrinking into the she-wolf and ended up doing exactly that as he slid just a bit closer to Stahl.

A slender lady orc came by a moment later, asking if anyone needed anything, and the bear finally spoke in a heavy sounding tone that registered more like a grunt to the human.

"Two more for me... Two for our guests here as well. I will buy today, so keep them coming, Moss."

Aster spoke up, dismissing the need.

"I don’t drink. Father said it could grow to consume a person, leaving them at the mercy of the vice. I’d rather not chance becoming one such victim... Thank you, though."

He bowed in respect at the beast’s offer. The bear chuckled a bit.

"Your father is correct on that. He must have been wise to raise a young man like you."

Aster beamed at the praise.

"He really is! But that is the great general Venatus for you!"

The husky barely managed to let out a single word as realization struck before the bear had already snatched Aster up by the front of his shirt.

"Shit!"

Aster was face to face with the bear, as the huge beast roared down at the boy, forcing a look of terror to form upon the human’s face as he dangled helplessly by the grip of the burly beast.

Stahl went to stand and defend Aster, but with a strike faster than Aster could follow, the she-wolf was knocked back, clutching at her throat where the bear had expertly struck, rendering her helpless as she only coughed and hacked in attempt at recovering her breath.

The bear never turned away, yelling down at the human with unconceivable rage.

"YOUR FATHER... IS GENERAL JAGÓN VENATUS? THE BLACK PANTHER KNIGHT AND RIGHT HAND OF THE KING? YOU? A HUMAN? THIS... THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! THIS IS UNIMAGINABLE! THIS IS INTOLERABLE!"

The great bear bellowed into the air again, bringing a deafening roar down on the struggling young man as those nearby desperately tried to talk the beast down with no luck. Stahl was struggling to make it to her feet. The bear continued his rant, unimpeded.

"THE VERY SAME GENERAL THAT PERSONALLY LED THE CHARGE ON ALL THE HUMAN KINGDOMS... THE VERY SAME ONE WHO CARRIED OUT THE ORDER TO KILL ALL HUMANS IN ALORA... MY OLD ALLY..."

The bear was starting to lower his voice. As the edge of anger faded temporarily, the emotion was replaced by something far worse, unimaginable betrayal and heartbreak.

"He... He was my ally... My friend... We grew up together... We fought in countless battles together... Me, him, and King Alocer ... And yet... Even still... He... He killed her... When the king ordered him to do it, he killed her right in front of me..."

The beast looked back to the human, his rage returning as tears welled up in the angered bear’s eyes, and his mighty grip on the human began to tremble.

"HE KILLED HER BECAUSE SHE WAS A HUMAN! THOSE BASTARDS KILLED MY WIFE, MY KHALA... AND NOW... NOW YOU TELL ME THAT SAME BETRAYING SCUM SPARED A HUMAN BOY... AND RAISED HIM AS HIS OWN SON? THAT THE KING LET HIM? HOW BY THE GODS IS THAT FAIR?!? HOW... HOW COME YOU DESERVED TO LIVE, BUT NOT HER? AFTER ALL I GAVE TO MY COUNTRY, AFTER ALL THEY TOOK FROM ME... Why... Why would you be spared? Why did they take her from me, only to save you..."

The bear’s voice broke as he finally released the human to fall onto the table. The beast leaned over him, his tears falling down to splash against Aster. This time, the beast barely spoke in a hoarse whisper.

"I will correct such an injustice. The panther will know how it feels."

The bear raised a mighty claw up, Aster was terrified now, and his own tears welled into his eyes. He had nothing to do with any of this... but more than from his own fear, he was crying for the bear’s sake for such a terrible and heartbreaking look of loss that the beast was bearing.

Aster turned his head as he yielded to the bear’s rage, waiting for the impending deadly strike. It never came. Instead, another unfamiliar voice filled the air.

"Let him go, Corper. Aster had no more a hand in that than I... You once helped kill many of our kind, but we gave you the chance to prove you were better than you once were... Or is all that progress so easily discarded? Would Khala want this?" ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

The orc that had intervened had a hand on the bear’s forearm, stopping his deadly swing as he spoke to the beast. The bear hesitated for a moment, then finally dropped his large arm, jerking away in disgust.

The bear turned and began making his way towards the door. A moment before he had reached it, Aster heard Prince Tyfin call out.

"You are Sir Corper the Collapser, are you not?"

The bear stopped in his tracks, turning to eye the young prince maliciously as he spat his words towards the lion over his shoulder.

"And what of it?"

The prince lowered his eyes a bit before he answered in a voice laden with remorse.

"I know of your story... I know the role my father played in it... I may never be able to set this right, but I give you my word, as the future king of Alora, that I will do everything in my power to prevent something like that from ever happening again... I know it means little, but I truly am sorry for what you had to live through.

"I am sorry for your treatment by your own trusted king and allies. I hope to build a kingdom where such unnecessary cruelty does not exist... One where our people may love whoever they wish and know it is no crime. I pray you may find peace in such a kingdom."

The bear turned slightly, a true look of sadness and longing in his eyes as he looked back at the human he had nearly slain. Aster could only stare back at the bear empathetically. Corper shifted his attention and looked Stahl directly in the eye as he spoke his parting message.

"Don’t ever let them take him from you... Stay by his side, always. Even if you have to raise your blade against your own king to do so, hesitate not. Do not trust them... Do not make the same mistake that I had... One I must live with."

Corper said nothing more, only closed his eyes, turned forward, and disappeared through the door without another sound, leaving the pub in a state of disarray. Captain Rix was getting Stahl to her feet while Dally tended to Aster, helping him off the table as he offered his condolences.

"I am sorry... I didn’t realize who your father was, or I would have warned you... Please don’t hold it against Corper. It’s something that haunts him still to this day... He isn’t a bad person..."

Aster nodded at the husky in understanding.

"It’s alright. I get it... I do not fault him... I can’t even imagine what was taken from him..."

As Aster spoke, rising to his feet, Stahl was imagining what the bear must have endured. Just knowing someone had threatened Aster was enough to make her blood boil... To have Aster stolen away before her very eyes? By her own king? The she-wolf wasn’t sure she could’ve managed the same restraint the bear had.

Despite the commotion, the pub soon settled down back to business as usual, as the beasts enjoyed the company of the orcs and the musicians alike for quite a while longer, until the sun was just starting to set over the desert skyline.

___

"STEADY NOW FOX! HOLD IT STEADY!" The gruff, older orc Tan was bellowing down at Rust, making the fox even more nervous as he tried to steady his grip on the tongs while the orc hammered another piece of steel through a pilot hole, securing the pommel to the handle of the longer, curved knife the heavy orc had been forging with the fox’s assistance.

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