This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The noise vanished.

One moment, Kain heard the shrieks of the creatures below, the brush of wind against his skin—the next, silence. He blinked, disoriented, and realized a faint, shimmering barrier had encased his chair, sealing him away from the outside world.

‘Are we not voting again?’ he wondered, fingers twitching over the buttons.

Then the owl emblem on his armrest moved.

The metal twisted, rising like liquid mercury, forming a three-dimensional owl no larger than his hand. Its body was polished silver, feathers etched with intricate runes, and its hollow eyes glowed faintly blue. Kain jerked back, then whipped his head around. Through the translucent barrier, he saw the same phenomenon occurring on every throne—the owl button was taking on a three-dimensional appearance. The only exception was the owl throne, who had a small metallic owl fly out from the emblem on the backrest of her chair and land on one of her armrests.

The owl before him tilted its head. When it spoke, its voice was a rasp of grinding gears, yet oddly melodic, like wind blowing through an old flute.

“A wise mind knows friend from foe,” it intoned. “Answer this: Who cast their vote against you in the first trial? Was it the Crane, the Tiger, the Wolf, the Boar, the Snake or the Owl?”

Kain exhaled. A question, not a vote. Relief flickered—until the owl added:

“Fail, and you will be eligible for descent.”

His jaw tightened. So it was mind games now? And thanks to the first round, he had less room for error than Serena, Cassian, and White-eyes. The Holy Son, already four levels down, could afford the least number of mistakes. But Kain still wasn’t in the best position.

A scary thought struck him: What if everyone’s question was like this? If Cassian was asked who voted against him, and Kain had chosen the Tiger…

‘Thank the gods I didn’t vote for him.’ He made a mental note to be more careful about who he voted for in the coming rounds.

The owl’s wings twitched impatiently. Kain forced himself to focus.

‘Who voted for me?’

Serena was impossible. The Easterners? They were fixated on the Holy Son, he was sure that they voted for him.

Kain himself had chosen the Wolf—the Holy Son. Had Serena done the same? Or had she instead picked off an Easterner to thin their numbers?

That left three options: Cassian (Tiger), the white-eyed girl (Owl), or the Holy Son (Wolf).

Cassian might’ve voted for me to eliminate competition during the National Tournament, Kain reasoned. But he doubted the boy two years his senior considered Kain to be much of a threat. Not to mention, Kain hoped he’d have the same mentality as himself and not think it beneficial to target a fellow countryman who was somewhat of an ally.

The white-eyed girl was an enigma. If she’d voted randomly, or based on some hidden insight…

Then there was the Holy Son.

That strange look he’d given Kain before the first trial flashed in his mind. The man knew something. He seemed to suggest that he knew about Kain’s dangerous relationship with Source energy.

Who knows? Maybe the religious zealot had a vision of Kain out of control and mistook him for a demon?

It’s the only explanation why he’d vote for Kain over the easterners who were actively gunning for him.

He stabbed the button beneath the gaze of the silver owl. “The Wolf.” Cassian.

The owl dissolved into mist. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then—

The relic’s voice boomed:

[Three participants answered incorrectly. They forfeit their votes this round. Only they may be chosen.]

Kain’s heart skipped a small beat, but he was still confident he wasn’t one of the three—

[Those that answered incorrectly are: Boar. Tiger. Fox.]

Fox? That was him. And the Tiger—Cassian. The Boar, the Eastern man.

‘Four people can vote. Only three of us can be voted against.’

Worse, the penalty wasn’t just one tier. If all four votes piled onto him…

‘I could drop four levels.’ Past the Holy Son. Halfway to the jaws below.

The seconds stretched. Kain’s pulse roared in his ears. Then—

His chair lurched.

Once. Twice. Three times.

‘No. No no no—’

The relic announced:

[Three votes: Fox. One vote: Boar.]

Kain’s world tilted as his pedestal plummeted, the barrier vanishing as wind screamed past his ears. When it stopped, he was level with the Holy Son—both of them now the lowest, the creatures beneath them salivating at the nearness of their prey.

But soon the howls below also disappeared as the noise-isolating barrier restored itself.

The silence inside the barrier was suffocating. Kain’s breath came in sharp, controlled bursts as he stared at the empty space where the owl had been. Even more annoyingly, a slightly painful current was emanating from his restraints, making it harder for him to concentrate. It was unknown if this was a penalty for answering incorrectly or something everyone had to experience.

Then—movement.

From the snake button, the emblem cracked open like an eggshell, and something slithered out.

A two-headed serpent emerged, constructed entirely of polished, ivory-white bone. Each skull bore glowing green eyes set deep within hollow sockets and a fanged grin.

They spoke in unison:

“We are the Serpent of Dissonant Tongues. One of us will speak only truth. The other, only lies.

You may ask two questions—one for each head! Use them wisely, and determine the correct emblem to press.”

‘So, they won’t all be like the previous round?’

‘Okay… okay. I’ve heard of this riddle before,’ Kain thought. Thinking about similar well-known mind games from his past life.

The trick wasn’t to identify who was lying, but to construct a question where either answer revealed the truth, regardless of who answered.

But with only two questions?

Kain narrowed his eyes.

“First question,” he said slowly. “If I were to ask your other head which armrest contains the correct button, which side would he point to?”

They both looked at the left armrest.

Kain marked that in his mind.

The left contained the snake, wolf, and tiger, while the right armrest held the crane, boar, and owl.

Asking the truth-teller what the liar would say: they’ll tell you the lie.

Asking the liar what the truth-teller would say: they’ll lie about the truth-teller’s answer.

Both cases would give Kain the wrong answer, so by flipping the answer…

‘The correct button was on the right side. Either the crane, boar or owl.’

“Second question. If I asked your other head which emblem on the right armrest is correct, which would he name?”

A pause…

Then the left head gestured to the Crane, while the other gestured to the Boar.

Kain selected his answer.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!