『Pardon...? This human...?』
The bulls look up at the unexpected answer. But Asterios' next sentence makes them bury their noses in the ground again.
『Do you have any complaints?』
『Oh, no... We would be truly grateful if you would like to take a human sacrifice from our factory.』
The bulls are quick to agree. Once they are convinced that the authority really means to take the human, they begin to grovel in patronizing voices. Nothing will be better than to take a human sacrifice instead of a factory worker. The monsters' sensibilities aren't quite up to the task of pitying a poor human being about to be devoured by a jackal.
『But you will be punished for tampering with the riches of the factory. Know this.』
Asterios has no intention of forgiving these foolish bulls. He glares at them with contempt, then tugs on Jeremy's chin.
"Ugh...!"
『...』
Asterios is a man of great muscularity. The middle-aged man can only raise his head in pain unable to withstand the jackal's overwhelming strength.
"Uh... ugh..."
Jeremy's mouth is unable to form words. He is horrified by the sharp teeth beneath the monster's long snout and its frightening glaring eyes. Jeremy stares at the jackal with wet eyes, unable to tell if it is trying to hurt him or save him.
『...You're not even worthy of being sacrificed.』
Asterios lowers his eyes and sighs heavily. It feels too self-serving for what he thinks is the best way to cover up this unsavory incident.
Still, he admires the man's courage in begging for his life from the highest authority. And it is a bit of a shame that his fascination has gotten the better of him, but it probably wouldn't matter.
『Wash him up. Make him as good as sacrificial before I leave.』
"Ough!"
Asterios tosses Jeremy aside like a cow to the slaughter. However, the human keeps looking at him pitifully, which makes him feel unnecessarily weird. It is frustrating to not know what he is thinking. He is beyond irritated he wants to dig into his tiny head right now.
『Ah, yes, we will, we will...! Thank you, thank you, sir Asterios...』
The bulls pound their foreheads on the ground, waiting for Asterios to leave. Jeremy, on the other hand, turns blue.
Just when he thinks his pitiful pleas for sympathy have worked, the ruthless monster throws him back to the bulls! Jeremy, fallen into the clutches of the bulls, is now whimpering violently and looks in agony.
Now...it's really over.
The bulls look like they're tempted to eat him again. Jeremy doesn't know how many more of them he'll have to deal with, or how long he'll have to deal with them... Maybe he'd be killed right away once they're done brutally r*ping him.
"Uh...huffgh...huffh, huk..."
Jeremy's breathing becomes unusually labored when the bulls stroke his terrified head and pat him on the back―which honestly is an attempt to calm him down.
"Huffk...hic hic..."
『Poor thing. You couldn't understand sir Asterios' words but you seem to understand that you're about to be sacrificed.』
『Oh, come on. Look at Yuliz. He just got ripped up in front of our own noses. We don't want to end up like him.』
Since Asterios had chosen a human to be a sacrifice, they must take great care of Jeremy until he is served. A single scratch cannot be tolerated, let alone if the already traumatized human goes insane and hurts himself. Just imagining it sends shivers down their spines. The bulls now treat Jeremy with the utmost care, as if he is some kind of novice. They even carry him on their backs so he doesn't have to walk on his own.
"No no...wait...where are we going...?!"
『He's loud. I thought sir Asterios doesn't like human flesh since we've never had a human sacrifice before.』
『Well, the Higher Ups prefer more active sacrifices, and perhaps...fleshier. He had seen this one running away so maybe he took an interest.』
『...Yeah, well, there's no point in talking about it. Let's get ready before something worse happens.』
The bulls whisper amongst themselves, not answering the humans' questions. Jeremy can only go along for the ride.
Why the sudden change in demeanor? What the hell did that dog monster say earlier...
Jeremy had expected them to do it right away, but they weirdly become a lot friendlier instead. It puzzles him, but instead of reassuring him, it frightens him even more. This world is full of unknowns.
* * *
『...』
Did I make a wise decision to take a human as a sacrifice? Asterios is deep in thought, sitting cross-legged in his fancy car heading to the official's residence at the peak of the government building.
In the seat next to him, his human sacrifice sits quietly, covered in a white cloth―looking a bit ridiculous in the baggy clothes because of his small figure.
But it was the best decision I could have made there in the first place.
If he just turned a blind eye, those bulls would certainly have mated with the human. Something like that is unacceptable in a food production plant. And there's no such thing as a perfect secret, if it ever gets leaked to the outside, it will hurt their image badly, so Asterios killed one of them on the spot and fired the other two. He doesn't regret that.
The problem is the human. The factory usually will slaughter livestock once they become useless. In their culture, citizens are sacrificed every year, and there is no reason why humans are different.
But there he was, begging to be spared. He couldn't speak, but he must have been asking for it. No flattery, no disguising his true intentions, no wicked terms. Just a pure plea for life, a desperate appeal.
Unlike those dumb bulls, Asterios resents them so much for they had blatantly lied telling him that this human seduced them first.
Asterios remember how this human begged him for his life. Even more the innocent blue eyes, so clear and transparent that he could see himself in them.
The jackal turns his head and brings his muzzle to the human's nape. He is clean now, and his body smells soft. Not even a slight of the distinctive sweet smell of milk though his breathing still looks rather ragged. His plump breasts are swelling up and down with each breath he takes.
『...』
What should I do to this human?
It would have been easier if humans are just as easy to judge as those bulls.
There is no basis for judging whether this non-speaking livestock is good or bad, useful or useless. There is still some time before the festival, though, and he may as well judge the human during that time.
Asterios has never been a fan of human flesh, so he hopes this human can be of some other use. The last thing he wants to do is take an inedible human sacrifice and serve it as a meal for the other councilors.
『Hah...this is so troublesome.』
The real problem is where to keep the human. Since his milk production will be at its lowest point, there is no point in keeping a traumatized human at the factory. Asterios is doubtful that the bulls will be able to handle him properly, and they can't just drop him off at any farm. This human is going to be sacrificed, so Asterios has to take care of him now.
『I don't know if you can survive long with me.』
"..."
Jeremy doesn't respond to the jackal's mumbled words. He'd thought he'd been abandoned, but now that he's here―cleaned and groomed, he doesn't know what to make of it.
He remembers how this monster bared his teeth in displeasure when he hung onto his pants. So, not wanting to provoke the beast unnecessarily, Jeremy chooses to stay quiet, despite the creepiness as the jackal buries his damp nose in his neck and sniffs him.
The car continues to move forward as Jeremy slices through the confusion in his mind. Throughout the ride, all he can see out of the window is a deserted city. He knows that this is a world of monsters, but he still feels extremely horrified every time he sees people walking through the streets with different animal heads. Until finally the car begins to slow down in front of a huge building. Then, it pulls into the building's underground parking lot.
"..."
『Get off.』
Asterios commands Jeremy once the car stops, and though the human can't understand a word he says, he does as he's told.
A cool, musty smell of the underground parking lot hits his nostrils once he steps out of the car. Jeremy looks up at the creature, slightly nervous. The impeccably dressed jackal then leads him to a private elevator.
Jeremy still follows timidly, causing the jackal's eyes to narrow slightly. He looks far more satisfied than before.
Of course, Jeremy, the human, doesn't notice the change. He can only shiver as his wrist is being held by a creature much larger and stronger than him. His hands are large enough to curve around the wrist of a well-muscled human male.
Jeremy squints at the floorboards. The numerals here use their own script, so there is no way to tell how many floors they are going up.
The elevator keeps moving up almost endlessly and finally stops when it reaches the top floor. Maybe not exactly the top, but Jeremy is pretty sure they are high enough in the sky.
Ding―
The elevator door opens. And what welcomes them then is a giant door, almost as tall as the monster. The jackal opens it.
"What the..."
Jeremy is slightly dumbfounded by the sight inside.
It looks like a normal family home. All the furniture is there, and even the décor is modern. What is unusual is that everything, including the furniture, shows little sign of use. The space is spacious and looks comfortable, but it is also empty.
"..."
'What is this...? It's kind of weird...'
Jeremy squints silently at his surroundings, not wanting to share his impressions of the house. The lack of human presence in the space gives him a vague sense of dread. Even a model home should have more humanity than this. Looking into the extremely neat space, it gives off a vibe like a room copied by some aliens who observed humans but never really interacted with them. It feels soulless.
"..."
The jackal lets the timid human scan his house for a while. Then, he speaks again.
"Now you can understand me."
NOTE:
This novel is going places but I think you'll like it more as the chapter progresses. Only a few chapters until volume 1 is end and we still have 2 more volumes!