I admit. It is illogical of me to try to assume Earth's reasoning is the same as a world I know nothing of.
Illogical, really illogical to do so.
"You want to do what now".
"Duel with you".
He repeated, with the same irritating valour.
Is he stupid or what?!
"No, I will not duel with you".
My main objective is to take control of their clan. To do that, I intend to show my superior combat ability to them, which leads to battling their chief.
If their motto is might make right, that would naturally crown their strongest member as their chief.
Working on that assumption, I have valid reasons to believe their chief is the strongest member of the clan, and to defeat him is to become the new strongest.
So tell me, why would I want to waste my time battling with the less stronger member of the clan? For what, to satisfy his baseless ego?!
I would rather not. Honestly.
"Why, are you scared".
Classic riling up to get me to agree. Who does he think I am? Some sort of unstable folk that dictates on his emotions for movements?!
He would have to do better than this if he wanted a reaction out of me.
"My answer remains a no. There is no merit or gain to be had with battling you, so why should I?!".
I got out of his way and resumed my walk, expecting Krevin to jump ahead and lead the way.
"If you are scared of me just say so. Coming up with nonsense excuses only makes you look pathetic".
A bulging vein appeared on my forehead, and a forced smile adorned my countenance as I turned to him.
"You want a fight? Fine, I will give it to you. But only if you can assure me one thing".
"What is it".
He retorts, arrogantly waiting for me to make my demands.
"If I fight you and I win, I want another duel with the chief".
If I am going to be doing this, might as well leave room for a guaranteed assurance to meet the big boss.
"If you fight me and win, there would be no reason to fight the chief".
"What is that supposed to mean".
I turned to Krevin who was by my side, waiting for an answer since I knew Laden wouldn't give me that luxury.
"The thing is, Laden is the strongest warrior in our clan. To duel him and win is to become the new strongest. If so, there wouldn't be a reason to duel the chief".
No, no, no.
I refuse to believe this. It is not what I was told so why the sudden change of settings?!
"Voice!"
I yelled, awkwardly calling to the attention of those nearby.
"Ah, sorry. I wasn't talking to you guys. It was... I was...".
If You Wish To Commune With Me, You Could Do So Through Thought Transference
It Does Not Require Opening Your Mouth And Others Wouldn't Be Able To Listen In
I pondered on how I was to respond as the voice had said. After a few tries and failures, I got the hang of it.
'And you couldn't tell me this before, why?'
You Never Asked
Of course that was going to be its reply. Why am I not surprised?
'Did you not say the Deamans are a race of might is right? How then is Laden, a supposed strongest warrior of the clan, not the chief'.
It Appears There Has Been A Misunderstanding
'...?'.
The Information I Passed Along Is A General Rundown Of What Deamans Are. Their Characteristics As A Race, Generalizing Their Way Of Life As One Entity
As A Race With Several Branches Of Species, Is It Not Proper That There Are Those Who Do Not Fall Under The Analyzed Category?!
I was rendered speechless. Shocking?! Yes, it was but that wasn't why I was speechless.
'So if I am to get it right, the information you gave me is a stereotypical view of the Deamans, a discriminatory remark to their way of life.
Does that about surmise it?!'.
That is what it was.
I didn't want to admit it, but this voice... Is a racist. Plain and simple.
Sigh.
'Would have sufficed if you had informed me earlier'.
Relic Theophilus Alderman Needs To Start Thinking Outside The Box
'What!'.
Shouldn't You Have Understood Better By Now? The Deamans Are Not Robots, They Are Not Mindless. Regardless Of The General Opinion On Them, There Are Those Who Will Drift Off That Part
They Are... Beings With Thoughts And Free Will
'...'.
Right. I honestly didn't think of them that way. I didn't have the chance to.
To me, the word Deaman was nothing more than a means to complete the quest and attain the role of a ruler...
Things like opinion consideration were never on my to-do or to-think list. Not until now.
This sure is troublesome for me.
"Are you going to do it or are you too terrified to face me alone".
I was jolted from my deep thoughts, courtesy of Laden's annoying voice.
A chance to fight the strongest of the group? Why the heck would I ever want to pass that up?
"Fine, I will duel you. But I have additional demand to make".
This is my chance to finally display my strength and attain one Deaman species clan under my rule. A chance to finally set into motion my reason for coming into this world.
I noticed Krevin's worried face on the sideline but I wasn't bothered for reasons that are best known to me.