Chapter 62: The True Reason

"In what book did you read that from?"

Queen Isadolla asked, her eyes filled with interest instead of the hatred or annoyance Arlo had expected.

"That was what I was told by the humans," he replied.

"I almost forgot you were once part of the humans and didn’t really grow up in the Vorath settlement."

"But I’ll give you a fair answer to your question," Queen Isadolla said, her eyes regaining their focus.

"The truth is, Arlo, we didn’t consciously choose to invade Earth. We are only here because of an unforeseen cataclysm."

"And no human can argue against that, as they all know very well that we Vorath spent two hundred years after our descent trying to return to where we came from."

"The last thing we wanted was to trouble the humans with our presence."

She explained, and Arlo nodded.

"But everything was a failure, and in the end, we had no choice but to let go of our greatest wish and find a way to adapt to this new world, Earth."

"The humans were welcoming in the beginning, provided that our special magic could serve them, and we Vorath were okay with that."

"We understood that our services could act as compensation for the humans allowing us to remain in their world, something like a form of rent."

"Even when the average relationship between a Vorath and a human became that of a slave and master, we weren’t the ones to complain."

"Then what led to the war?" Arlo asked.

"Every Vorath that I know, upon seeing a human, immediately becomes a fierce, deranged beast, while any human who sees a Vorath also immediately goes for the kill."

"If there was such a somewhat peaceful cooperation in the beginning, then... what changed?"

"It’s a universal truth about humans, Arlo. They are truth-seekers."

Queen Isadolla began.

"They are never satisfied with things being unknown or having no scientific explanation."

"They would willingly go to the depths of hell, if it were possible, just to find out why something works the way it does. And that was what caused the war."

"How so..." Arlo asked, giving his full attention to the matter.

"The humans can’t use Mana, but we can. They were not satisfied with that and refused to accept their fate of not being Mana-conscious."

"They wanted to learn how to control Mana and harness it for themselves, the same way we do."

"You have to know that we tried to help them achieve that, Arlo. We revealed to them that the metals underground had been altered by our Mana and helped them integrate magic into their technology."

She said this, and Arlo really couldn’t refute it.

Even Captain Ennessa had told him that Mana had fused with metals, making them stronger and more durable, and humans had learned to harness that.

She had simply never mentioned whether it was the humans or the Vorath who had made the discovery.

"But even though we did that... it still wasn’t enough."

"They still weren’t satisfied with the fact that they were not Mana-conscious and had so much trouble even understanding such a simple concept."

"We thought that sooner or later, they would come to accept their fate, but we were proven wrong."

Having been separated from the rest of their race and still slowly healing from the wound of that separation, the Vorath population was already too low, and the possibility of extinction was very real.

Yet as time passed, their numbers began to decrease even further, and at an alarming rate.

"And can you guess what was responsible for those disappearances?" Queen Isadolla asked.

Even though she appeared calm, Arlo could sense that her tone was becoming heavier with every word.

"The humans," Arlo replied.

She nodded.

"Yes, the humans."

"While we thought they would eventually accept their fate of not being able to absorb Mana like the Vorath, we were proven wrong."

"The humans began capturing Vorath under the guise of asking them to come and work for them."

"They would impregnate female Vorath, hoping to create hybrids between the two races."

"Though that was a failure, it didn’t stop them. If anything, it only made their ferocity grow."

"Female Vorath were being raped to death, while the males were turned into lab rats and experimented on as the humans tried to discover what allowed us to absorb and store Mana within our bodies."

Hundreds of thousands were lost within months by a race that was already facing the possibility of extinction.

"Imagine, Arlo, your daughter coming to you and telling you she was going to help her boss with his work, and you agreed."

"Then you wait for weeks, only to eventually find her corpse, her body bearing clear signs of brutalization."

"Or imagine your son leaving home, only for his dead body to be found in a dump, his intestines missing, which you would eventually discover preserved inside a glass box filled with green liquid."

"Is that not a worthy enough reason for you to grab your weapon and fight?"

Queen Isadolla asked, causing Arlo’s eyebrows to furrow.

If he could truly put himself in the shoes of an adult, and something like that happened to his son or daughter, he knew very well that it would result in nothing less than a full-blown war.

"And what was even more ridiculous was that the humans expected us to remain silent and accept their inhumane treatment."

"Our willingness to serve them made them mistake our benevolence for inferiority."

"With our people being mutilated and the possibility of our entire race being wiped out becoming more real by the day, we knew we needed to find a way out of humanity’s reach."

"The ultimate conclusion was to separate ourselves from the humans by claiming some sectors for ourselves."

"Out of around twenty-six sectors, we took five that were barely even developed for our own. Yet the humans are still fighting a war over it."

"They want their five sectors back."

"Were the two hundred years of slavery we served them, or the thousands of us they slaughtered, not worthy enough for us to have five sectors to ourselves?"

"Is that really too much to ask!?"

"If the humans say we are an invasive race, ask them why we chose to be their slaves for two hundred years and spent everything we gained trying to build teleporters, all of which failed one after another."

"If they say we’re a dominating race with the ultimate goal of taking over the entirety of Earth, ask them why we only have five sectors out of twenty-six, and why we have never once made a direct strike against their remaining twenty-one."

"The truth is, we’re an adaptive race, not a dominating one."

"They took away half of our people, and we took away a part of their land. It’s as simple as that."

"As for the war still ongoing, the blame can be fully placed on the humans. If they leave us alone, we will leave them alone."

"But if they dare attack us, then by Cthulhu, we will kill them in the most brutal ways their imaginations can allow."

"Ask anyone with half a brain, and they would tell you that’s fair enough."

Isadolla said with a devilish grin.

"You’re allowed to do anything you want, Arlo."

"Just stay away from the humans and wipe away your naive compassion toward them. That’s how you will stay alive here..." she said, and Arlo could tell that the final words were the true reason she had gone to such lengths to explain everything to him.

He could almost hear the silent threat hidden behind them, one that said his life wouldn’t be the same if he dared to be caught showing any sign of compassion toward the humans.

’The humans, too, might have truly gone too far this time...’ Arlo thought, his eyebrows slightly creased.

Raping the women of a race that was already facing extinction and performing experiments on its men was something that had gone far beyond what he could consider acceptable.

[Don’t be quick to judge. You only heard her side of the story.]

[And besides, the one who told you the Vorath wanted domination was her own daughter, Milliani. Remember?]

[Although that spoiled girl really seems to have an unhealthy obsession with human stuff and maybe a couple of screws loose.]

[Still, you’ll need to hear the side of a high-ranking human before making any solid judgment.]

[Besides, for the last time, Arlo, you have no business with the Vorath or Humans!]

[Your focus is to grow strong and leave this accursed place! Hope you haven’t forgotten that.]

The System reminded him fiercely as Arlo nodded.

’I haven’t.’

[Good. Minding your own business won’t get you into trouble.]

"I understand now, Queen Isadolla. Thank you for clearly explaining everything," Arlo said, standing up before giving a respectful bow.

She gave him a nod of acknowledgment, and Arlo packed up the books he had finished reading before walking toward the shelves and carefully placing them back in their proper places.

’You have a strange soul, Arlo. A soul that is greatly endearing to people and makes them care for you, even without any clear reason to do so.’

Queen Isadolla thought to herself quietly.

’While that is a good thing, it might also be very damaging if you become endeared to the wrong people.’

’Then you might find yourself fighting the wrong battle...’

She could tell that the young man before her was different, particularly because of the aura he gave off.

Arlo possessed a special, comforting aura, one that made people naturally want to care for him.

She could sense this because she herself was naturally drawn to him, and she could also see that her own roughneck, who couldn’t stand the sight of males who weren’t Demois or her father, was strangely accepting of the young man.

Even her husband and Demois didn’t seem to have a problem with him.

It was almost as if he possessed some special type of charm that could make people lower their guards around him.

But such a thing could be manipulated, and if he became attached to the wrong people, it could bring total ruin upon him.