Chapter 141: This Is a Kind of...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 141: This Is a Kind of...
"Did you mate with Dora?"
A bolt from the blue.
It was the literal definition of the idiom—a sudden, shocking event. Though the sun had set and the sky was stained a deep crimson by the twilight, it was likely less red than Renart’s cheeks as she spoke of her daughter’s mating. Regardless of the color of her face, it was an undeniable fact that a metaphorical lightning bolt had just struck Yoo Eon over the head.
"Uh, Madam."
"Why so surprised? I am not rebuking you."
"Haha, I... I see."
Renart sat on the edge of the plush bed, crossing her legs provocatively. Yoo Eon had naturally dropped to one knee before her, but since she had no intention of scolding him, she gestured for him to pull up a chair and sit.
"Her estrus has been severe lately, yet today, the girl’s face looks remarkably at peace. Did you think I wouldn't guess that something had happened? Or were you planning to keep it from me?"
"No, no. I never thought of hiding it. It’s more like... I couldn't help it. That night, I was suddenly dragged away myself..."
"Mmm... I suppose so."
She had suspected as much. Yoo Eon usually seemed indifferent to rigid formalities, but his conduct was refined, and his efforts were commendable. He didn't show any signs of excessive lust—aside from his inability to properly control his pheromones.
Just like last time, she figured he had spent the night with her daughter because he couldn't refuse her demands. In the end, even if Yoo Eon hadn't intended for it to happen, the situation could be interpreted as Theodora, who held the initiative in their relationship, forcing the issue.
"I... I see. It wasn't... unpleasant, was it?"
"Oh, Madam. Not at all. Theodora is a very charming woman."
"Is that so... I see..."
As she always felt, he was never uncomfortable around his superiors; he was easygoing and had a certain sly charm. Renart kept forgetting what she had intended to say before calling him in for this private meeting. She mentally reorganized her thoughts.
Wiping the softened expression from her face, she sharpened her gaze once more.
"Aven. I am not like other mothers. I will not tell Dora that, having given you her body, she must regard you as her husband and serve you for the rest of her life."
"Pardon?"
"In my not-so-short life, I’ve realized there is nothing more foolish than staking one's entire existence on a single man."
When a beastkin female finishes mating with a male, she typically becomes entirely dependent and submissive to him. However, Renart Lymain held skeptical views on such matters.
"Just because you took Dora for a night doesn't mean she belongs to you. Do you understand? She is different from other beastkin who spend their lives looking only at one person."
"Uh..."
From Yoo Eon’s perspective, he wondered what on earth she was talking about. Why would rolling around in bed for one night mean they had to spend their lives together? Having lived in 21st-century Korea, where divorce and one-night stands were common, and being unfamiliar with the marriage customs of this world's beastkin, Renart was telling him something he already considered common sense.
"That's... only natural, isn't it?"
"Hmm...?"
In this medieval era, moving between cities often meant a shift in status from freeman to slave. Men were still considered superior, and many treated women as property or spoils of war.
Of course, in noble society, many women sought hypergamy, so there were many cases where not just the men, but the families themselves treated women that way.
"Haha... I'll have to work hard. So that Dora and you aren't disappointed, Madam."
"...Indeed."
Renart nodded blankly for a moment before finishing her thought.
"Right. Go and wash up. It is nearly time for dinner."
"Yes, I understand, Madam."
After Yoo Eon left the room, Renart lay back on the bed and stretched her arms out to her sides.
"His words are so gentle, and yet..."
She fell into thought. She had been worried about Theodora, who had become increasingly irritable lately. Seeing her make frequent mistakes at work and looking physically exhausted, Renart had thought that suppressants alone wouldn't be enough.
"But how, in just one night...?"
During a peak period of sexual desire, it’s difficult to find satisfaction even after mating for an entire month. Yet, Theodora’s estrus—despite her not even practicing self-gratification normally—had been quelled in a single night.
Renart was certain that, in contrast to his gentle speech, they must have engaged in an incredibly vicious, terrifying, and lewd bout of mating.
Shiver!
The thought made her tail tremble involuntarily.
"...The room feels chilly."
* * *
Yoo Eon thought deeply while taking a shower.
"Hmm, what was that about?"
Madam had suddenly called him in to ask if he’d had sex with Theodora. It wasn't like he could just say "No, I didn't" in that situation. The conversation that followed was a bit funny, too. To summarize:
'Don't think about getting married just because we did it once,' was it?
Was it because the eras were different? Or was it a racial trait of the beastkin? He wasn't sure, but was it normally expected to jump straight to a wedding after one night?
There were plenty of brothels in southeast Calax, so... well, those existed in the Middle Ages too.
"Oof, my back muscles are tingling."
Flying took a lot more full-body strength than he’d expected. While the wings that generated lift were on his back, his entire body from head to toe was affected by gravity.
To reduce air resistance and fly fast, he had to lie horizontally like Superman, but since the wings were fixed to his back, it was a struggle. Even with the wind's help, he had to use his core strength to keep his lower body lifted.
"I could just change the muscles, but..."
Changing the wing muscles was difficult. The back-wing muscles of a gargoyle were of incredibly high quality; muscles at the level of a direwolf or an orc weren't strong enough to move the wings powerfully.
Still, the muscles seemed to have some 'muscle memory' from moving wings before, so he didn't get exhausted after just an hour or two.
"That's strange. I thought I heard they could fly for twenty-four hours straight."
He’d heard that gargoyles released from petrification could fly all day, but looking at his current muscular state, that seemed impossible. The gap was too large to be explained by a mere difference in proficiency. Did the gargoyle body have some kind of skill that assisted with flight?
He decided he’d have to look into it later.
—Aven! Are you done yet?!
He heard Theodora calling from outside; dinner must be ready.
"Coming!"
After finishing dinner, he went outside with the wisp to fly. Come to think of it, how did wisps fly?
"Wispie, how do you fly?"
—Us? Um, wings?
"I don't think so."
They certainly looked like butterflies, so flying with wings wouldn't be strange, but to his eyes, it didn't look like they were using them for lift. They flapped their wings far too slowly; it was obvious they were moving through some magical means.
"Hmm, unique."
—It’s embarrassing when you stare like that...
It looks like a butterfly, but it reacts so strangely...
* * *
"Oh. Where are you going, Dora?"
Last night, Madam had returned to her office after dinner. As usual, only Ms. Alfi, Ravi, Theodora, and Yoo Eon slept at the lodging.
"I have a quick errand! I'll be back by one, so get washed up and ready. Got it?"
"Sure, okay."
This afternoon, he had a scheduled visit to the Arena with Madam. Ravi and Ms. Alfi seemed to have become quite close; they were busy discussing what they would do for fun once he and Theodora left for the Arena. He was actually relieved they weren't begging to come along.
"Yoo Eon! We're going to the Alchemist Fest today!"
"Is that so? That sounds fun."
"Please act a bit more curious..."
Anyway, it seemed Ms. Alfi and Ravi had their own plans. Madam had returned to her office, perhaps finding it uncomfortable to sleep at the lodging. Ms. Alfi had originally come to act as a liaison for Madam, but it felt wrong to suddenly ask her to work when she was having such a good time talking with Ravi.
Theodora had left for her errand, and suddenly, he was free.
"Oh, Yoo Eon? Where are you going?"
"I'm just going out for a bit. I won't be late. If Theodora comes back, tell her I'm at the park out back."
"Ah, okay."
He had set it aside for a while to get his flight license, but he needed to find a way to utilize the body of Queen Arachne, the 50th-floor boss. He hadn't consumed any insects yet. Queen Arachne would likely be his first insect monster. It was quite a luxurious start.
So, what was the biggest difference with insects? For one, the exoskeleton was a major distinction. A structure where the interior was filled with muscle and the exterior was encased in a hard shell.
He wasn't a biology major, but weren't exoskeletons only found in small creatures? Arachne was nearly the size of a five-story building.
"It's heavy."
A thick exoskeleton. It had high durability and significant weight. It was a deep purple, almost black, and since Arachne was so massive, it seemed he could fashion a full set of armor from it.
And the biggest difference he felt was this.
"How many did I eat?"
The eyeballs he felt within the skill. Not two, but eight.
"Hmm..."
Moreover, every single one of them had strange colors, and he couldn't even tell what they were supposed to be seeing. It wasn't that his vision was bad, but there was so much visual information around him that it was overwhelming.
"Wait, what is this...?"
In the quiet, open space, he saw a person passing by in the distance. Something peculiar caught Arachne's eyes.
They're going to fall.
A stone protruding from the ground, and a pedestrian who, for some reason, looked like they were about to trip over it. Arachne's eyes focused intensely on that spot, showing a kind of afterimage.
A dark gray. It was like a long gray trail, similar to a basic implant's visual effect, but the problem wasn't the trail following behind.
The afterimage is in front.
It wasn't an afterimage mimicking the pedestrian's past actions; it was moving ahead of them, as if staging the scene of the pedestrian tripping over the stone.
—Thud!
And then, exactly like the afterimage he had seen, the pedestrian tripped and fell.
This was a kind of...
"Future Sight..."