Chapter 1708
“Lord Deek, Ambassador Pait, thank you for your patience.” Duran entered our room a short while later, a gentle smile on his face.
“Lord Duran… ah… should I call you King now?”
He stiffened for a second and then raised his hand defensively. “No, no, it hasn’t gone that far. I may have been in a situation where I could speak for the tribes and lead the army temporarily, but that doesn’t mean they’ve made me the king.”
“Oh?”
“It’s not easy being the king of all the beastkin. I have many skills, but even I wouldn’t say I had those qualifications.” Lord Duran explained. “A king would be someone with the power and command to control all of the tribes and keep them in line. We wolfkin have a pack mentality. We depend too much on each other for our strength. Regrettably, the beastkin who might have the individual strength come from a tribe that is too small and fractured to be likely to become king.”
“You guys don’t have some selection method, do you?”
I was already imagining some kind of dungeon test like the King’s Selection mixed with the Champion’s Gauntlet. That would make a lot of sense if every country had its own form of test.
“Normally, the one who would become king was the one who defeated the previous king.” He responded dryly. “However, you’re not an animalkin, technically, and you belong to another country. This is the first time in Dioshin’s history that a king was killed by someone outside of Dioshin. It might not have been such a problem, but King Roth was ruthless in the destruction of his competition. There was no other strong opposition that could take his place, which is why things are in limbo.”
“Is it that bad?”
“The catkin tribe is still searching for a new leader. King Roth had spent generations snuffing out any males with potential, including his children. Although there are many powerful women from the catkin tribe, they had a long history of male rulers.”