EP.51
I gnawed on Baek Yeon-Young’s finger.
Is this really okay?
I do have poison in my teeth, you know.
Crunch.
Naturally, my teeth couldn’t pierce Baek Yeon-Young’s skin.
I felt a twinge of frustration.
I’ve reached the realm of the Komodo, surpassing that of the Crocodile King, yet I still can’t pierce a single finger?
Waaang.
Special technique, two-finger bite.
Thud.
The effect was minimal.
[Tang So-young’s faith has greatly increased.]
Huh?
What’s going on now?
I pulled my mouth away from her finger and turned to look at Tang So-young.
She was trembling all over.
With spider friends on her shoulders, she gazed at me quietly.
“Who told you to stop?”
Baek Yeon-Young is acting strange.
Could it be that she needs my poison?
I could create some from my venom if needed.
Still, the sensation of biting her finger isn’t bad.
How should I put it—it fulfills my hidden desires?
It feels analogous to sinking my teeth into a huge piece of meat.
Though, of course, the difference is that my teeth couldn’t get in.
Should I also take a bite out of Tang So-young?
I feel like her teeth would fit right in.
Being from the Tang Family, she probably wouldn’t mind the poison.
Just as I was thinking of biting Baek Yeon-Young’s finger again…
“G-Go, Great Master Go!”
Tang So-young, whose faith had much increased, rushed towards me.
With her short legs, she wasn’t that fast.
It could be described as a hurried little gallop.
Coming at me like a chick, Tang So-young puffed out her chest as if to make herself look bigger.
Was she trying to appear more imposing? However, her chest didn’t seem that large, making the effect rather minimal.
In she squeezed herself between Baek Yeon-Young and me.
You must be happy to see a human after such a long time, right?
Alright, let me introduce you,
“Gegegek.”
This is Baek Yeon-Young.
She’s my master.
That’s the sort of dialogue I was imagining.
However, what came out of Tang So-young’s mouth was completely the opposite of what I expected.
“Quick, hurry and escape!”
Tang So-young trembled violently.
In her hand was a small vial.
It was clear at a glance that it was related to poison.
But why was she holding that and shaking like this?
“Hooh.”
It seems Tang So-young thinks Baek Yeon-Young Saurus is an enemy.
After all, she did blow away that enormous creature with a single hand, so it’s understandable to perceive some danger.
She charged in thinking I was being attacked.
Though I felt slightly aggrieved, there’s a bit of a thrill in being treated as a divine beast.
Still, that’s a colossal misunderstanding.
Baek Yeon-Young is my master.
While she may have a somewhat aggressive side, at her core, she’s a kind person.
“Gegegek.”
I should introduce her.
I mean, I think you two would actually get along.
There are hardly any humans who speak to lizards apart from you two.
“Great Master Go! Quickly, run away! I’ll handle things here somehow….”
“Great Master Go? How odd. She hasn’t given a name to you yet; how can you be called in such a bizarre manner?”
You refer to me as a little lizard.
Great Master Go is a better fit.
Baek Yeon-Young didn’t seem to pay any attention to Tang So-young standing in front of her and appeared lost in thought.
“Power like the sun. The one who wields it.”
Baek Yeon-Young was rambling nonsensically.
“How about ‘Hirak-su’ (燧烙率)?”
What is Hirak-su?
Is she seriously naming me like that?
I’ll just stick with Komodo.
“Gegek.”
I made a sound of refusal.
“Hmm…”
She rested her chin on her hand, seeming to ponder deeply once more.
“G-Great Master… we really need to go…”
No.
Whatever it is, it’s meaningless.
Even if we run away, we’d get caught right away.
And there’s no reason to escape.
“The claws are like flames that tear enemies apart, and the body is a shield that can withstand anything.”
Has she dabbled in poetry?
That’s quite a magnificent verse.
“How about ‘Hirak-no’ (爔攞櫓)? Do you like it?”
I don’t like it.
“Gegegek!”
I made a vehement sound of opposition.
“Indeed. It must be a dilemma. My apologies.”
At least she has a conscience, despite not having a knack for naming.
“Both are such outstanding names; it’s no wonder you’re conflicted.”
She has no conscience at all!
“Gegegegek!”
“Hirak-no, Hirak-su. They have good meanings, but they’re hard to pronounce.”
Does someone who knows that really name it like that?
It’s much better to go with Komodo.
An ancient death with a tail.
How cool is that?
“Hi.”
Huh?
“You are ‘Hi’.”
Hi…
That’s better than I expected.
It’s much better than being called Hirak-su or Hirak-no.
Wait, is she trying to lower my expectations by giving me a weird name first?
Is she trying to force me to use the name ‘Hi’?
“Don’t use strange names like Great Master Go; just call me Hi.”
Tang So-young.
Say something!
At this rate, they’re going to steal Great Master Go’s name.
I nudged Tang So-young while clicking my tongue.
“Uh… uh…”
Tang So-young trembled like a quaking aspen.
She had come with her earlier bravado, but what’s with her now?
First, let’s see if she can drop whatever she’s holding.
I’m not sure what it is, but it looks like it could explode any second.
“Hi.”
Baek Yeon-Young called for me.
She slightly turned her head to look at Tang So-young.
Tang So-young’s body shook even more.
“What is this little being that is blocking our path?”
Her expression was arrogant.
Before Tang So-young intervened, it seemed she had no interest; now, she was only just beginning to question its presence.
No wonder the girl is scared.
Tang So-young.
Don’t worry too much.
Although Baek Yeon-Young might speak like that, she’s fundamentally kind.
She has a kind-looking face, after all.
Though her personality does seem a bit odd.
“Gegegek.”
There’s no choice.
I’ll have to mediate.
“Gegegek.”
It might be a bit inconvenient to communicate, so I’ll help Tang So-young with her explanation.
Alright, let’s hear it quickly.
I’ll nod along.
“G-Great Master Go… this poison is dangerous, so hurry…”
Tears were streaming down Tang So-young’s face.
…Something feels off.
No matter how timid she is, isn’t this a bit excessive?
Does Tang So-young know what kind of person Baek Yeon-Young is?
“Hi.”
Baek Yeon-Young turned her head to look at me again.
Suddenly, some information popped into my mind.
The place I’m in is indeed called Shiman Mountain.
Shiman Mountain is the stronghold of the Demon Cult.
Generally, ordinary people can’t approach here, except in special cases like Tang So-young.
Baek Yeon-Young was moving around here as if it were her own home.
She was a member of the Demon Cult.
A rather high-ranking one, too.
“No matter how I look at it, this girl appears to be the daughter of the Tang Family. Is that correct?”
I realized I had made a mistake.
Tang So-young belonged to the Sichuan Tang Sect.
To put it simply, she was from a prestigious family.
Baek Yeon-Young was a member of the Demon Cult.
Would she look favorably upon Tang So-young, who belonged to the Sichuan Tang Sect?
No, that can’t be right.
“Such bravery. Who dares to touch a member of the Great Families?”
Even if Baek Yeon-Young viewed me favorably, it was unlikely she would feel the same about Tang So-young.
The murderous intent emanating from her made my body tingle.
“G-Great Master Go….”
Tang So-young’s arms fell limply to her sides.
That bead she was holding was probably her last resort.
But in front of Baek Yeon-Young, it held no significance.
Reverse Dragon Spirit—she was controlling everything merely with her presence.
I had to intervene.
If this continued, Tang So-young would surely be killed by her hands.
“Grrrr…”
I let out the lowest, most threatening sound I could muster.
Baek Yeon-Young looked favorably upon me.
I needed to make the most of that.
“Hi. Who are you revealing your intent to?”
Baek Yeon-Young’s emotionless face felt even more chilling at that moment.
But it did have an effect.
“Very well.”
The overwhelming pressure that was suffocating me lessened slightly.
“Do I have any reason to spare this girl?”
Many.
So many, in fact.
But I had no means to communicate that now.
First, I needed to bring Tang So-young back to her senses before I could convey how we had come to be together.
To do that, we needed to get through this situation safely.
It was a tense moment.
I needed something to momentarily assuage Baek Yeon-Young’s wrath.
“Kieek!”
At that moment, the spider clinging to Tang So-young’s back began to squirm and crawl forward.
It was Nephila Jurassica.
Tus and Pus were also hopping around on her shoulders making noise.
This was dangerous.
At this rate, I might disappear along with Tang So-young.
Nephila Jurassica appeared to have made up its mind.
Tadat.
Remarkably, it walked forward calmly even in the presence of such overwhelming pressure.
No, it was more accurate to say that Baek Yeon-Young had not exerted her intimidating aura towards the spiders at all.
The only thing I could do now was growl and draw Baek Yeon-Young’s attention.
I had to trust the spiders.
Nephila Jurassica crawled right up to Baek Yeon-Young.
Then it presented her with something.
A shed skin of a gecko.
Baek Yeon-Young stared at the shed skin with her expressionless face.
One second, two seconds.
And then three seconds.
Pffft.
The corners of Baek Yeon-Young’s mouth turned upward.
It seemed she recognized what that shed skin was.
And then—
“Hahahaha!”
She laughed so loudly it was hard to believe it was the usual Baek Yeon-Young we knew.
So much laughter that tears welled slightly at the corners of her eyes.
The lifeless expression on her face began to brighten.
After a good while of laughter, Baek Yeon-Young accepted the shed skin that Nephila Jurassica had brought her.
“This is quite fascinating.”
The malicious intent that had been pressing down on Tang So-young and me vanished in an instant.
“There are things I didn’t know about you. If it weren’t for the spider, I might have never known.”
Was receiving my shed skin such a good thing?
Seems like Baek Yeon-Young has her own peculiarities.
“Most interestingly, it’s about the spiders guarding the daughter of the Tang Family.”
So, it wasn’t just because of my shed skin.
How embarrassing.
“You must have been well aware that it could have been used as a material for loneliness.”
Tang So-young collapsed onto the ground.
“Gasp… gasp…”
It appeared that Baek Yeon-Young had relaxed, causing the tension to dissipate.
“There’s enough value in having a conversation.”
Baek Yeon-Young casually sat down on a suitable lizard nearby.
That would be my back.
“O daughter of the Tang Family, tell me what has transpired.”
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