Chapter 45: I Was Trying to Rest, But...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: I Was Trying to Rest, But...
“S-So... how does it taste, sir?”
“Seriously. I told you, I’m not eating this for the flavor.”
“Right! Y-Yes, of course. You did say that.”
I sat rooted in the guild workshop, chewing my way through an entire tail. Having a dismantler stuck by my side made things so much easier. It was great just sitting there and receiving every piece he sliced off.
If only he’d stop getting the wrong idea, everything would be perfect. Anyway, this should do it.
“Aven? I heard the news. I heard you did something incredible on the 10th floor?”
“Oh, Dahlia. It just kind of turned out that way.”
“Were you close with Mayerbridge? To have so many of their people helping you with the processing...”
“Not at all. I just happened to receive some help by chance.”
Dahlia must have just started her shift, as she stepped into the workshop. That radiant smile of hers never seemed to fade, even in the morning.
“You look beautiful this morning.”
“A-Ahem... Thank you, Aven. You look—”
“Here it is! This is the last piece!”
“Oh. Thanks.”
Crunch, crunch—
The dismantler sliced the final joint of the Lizardman’s tail in half and handed it to me. I took it and started chewing. Dahlia’s expression immediately shifted.
“Uh...? A-Aven...? Why are you putting that in your mouth...? Why...?”
“Oh. This? It’s because of a skill.”
“I see....”
“Dahlia, thanks for your hard work so early in the day. I think I’ll head back to the inn now.”
“R-Right! Good work today. Go get some rest.”
“Yeah. See you. I’ll be back later.”
After a brief goodbye, I left the guild building and returned to the inn. It was currently 9:00 AM. I’d been up since dawn, but since I’d spent most of that time lying in the treatment center, I wasn’t particularly sleepy.
Most of my equipment was either lost or ruined. I needed money to restock, but the payment for the materials wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow morning.
I figured I should spend the day resting while testing my body’s movements. I had the Orc Chieftain’s muscles now, but I’d pushed my other muscles so hard they’d barely been able to walk.
Plus, I still had plenty of personal experiments to run. When I got back to the inn, Sera was nowhere to be seen in the lobby; she must have woken up. The blankets were cleared away, and while the incubator was still on the table, Sera was gone.
“Huh. The egg is gone.”
I looked inside the incubator, but it was empty. Wondering what happened, I looked around, but the egg hadn't rolled onto the floor. Besides, the incubator wasn't built so flimsily that an egg could just fall out.
“Sera? Sera, are you there?”
I called out for her from the lobby, and a voice answered from somewhere.
—Yoo Eon? Come here, quick!
“Where are you?”
Following the sound, I realized it was coming from Sera’s room. I wondered if it was okay to enter a lady’s room, but since she’d told me to come in, I figured it was fine.
“Sera? I’m coming in.”
“Hurry!”
Creeeeak—
I opened the door and stepped inside. Sera and Tresha were lying side-by-side on their stomachs on the bed, staring intently at something.
“Tresha, you’re here too.”
“Oppa! Look at this!”
“Hmm? What is it?”
At the head of the bed, there was something wrapped in a bundle of blankets.
“Well, look at that. It hatched.”
“Isn’t it so cute! It’s a baby bird!”
“Uwaa... It’s so adorable....”
Tresha and Sera were staring at the baby Red-Feathered Eagle Owl with eyes practically dripping with honey. The creature was a ball of fluff that hadn't even opened its eyes properly yet. It was a bit larger than a fist—quite big for a hatchling.
“It’s cute. Have you given it a name?”
“A name?! Unnie, what should we name it?!”
“I know, right?! What should we do...?”
“But Oppa, do you know what kind of bird this is? Someone came by and dropped it off early this morning.”
“You sent it, right, Yoo Eon? Where did you get it?”
“That’s a baby Red-Feathered Eagle Owl.”
“Oh.”
At those words, Sera and Tresha froze. Their legs, which had been kicking happily in the air as they lay there, suddenly dropped. They slowly pushed themselves up and backed away from the bundle.
“Red-Feathered Eagle Owls... don’t they come from the Labyrinth...?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“I heard... they’re powerful monsters that appear from the 8th floor up....”
“The 7th floor, actually. I think I got this one from the 9th floor.”
Sera and Tresha hugged each other with grave expressions and looked at me.
“W-Will it eat us when it grows up...?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Yoo Eon...? Are you sure it’s okay...?”
“Why are you so surprised? It’s just a chick. You know how they say birds think the first person they see is their mother? Do you really think it would eat its own mother?”
“I guess...?”
At that, Sera and Tresha let out a long sigh of relief.
“But only one of you can be the mother. There’s only one mom, after all.”
“Then...”
“I guess the one who fails to become the mom will have to run for her life. What else can you do?”
“Gasp!!”
They were so easy to startle; it was fun teasing them. They swung from joy to despair with every word I said.
“I’m joking. Experts say that if you raise them from the hatchling stage, they can be domesticated. Take good care of it.”
“Honestly! Stop teasing us, Oppa!”
“You’re so mean!”
Once I assured them it was fine, they went back to the blankets, smiling brightly. Those smiles... they couldn't look any happier. Do they really like it that much?
“So, what are you going to do about the name?”
“The name...?”
“If you don’t give it a pretty name, it might eat you when it grows up. Think carefully.”
Tresha, cradling the bundle like a baby, looked up at me.
“You’re joking, right...?”
“...”
“Ah, stop it...!”
“...”
“Oppa...?”
“I’m joking.”
“Go away!”
* * *
“Is this place your house? You just bring whatever you want inside?”
“Hahaha, I’m sorry. But those two love it. I’m sure they’ll handle it without any problems.”
“Ugh, you slippery snake. If I let in one more person like you, this inn would turn into a complete zoo.”
Auntie poured some stir-fried meat onto my plate while brandishing her ladle in a very threatening manner.
“Aww, were you planning on picking up someone else? Just be satisfied with me.”
“Forget it, you brat. If you’re done eating, go throw the trash in the pit.”
“Wait, Auntie. Are you still not making Tresha do that?”
At my words, Auntie gave me a sharp flick to the forehead. It actually stung.
“You brat. You’re built like a mountain, and you want to make a little girl do that?”
“Hey, I’m just kidding. I’ll do it, don’t worry. I’m the best at throwing away food waste in the entire Labyrinth City.”
“Ugh, always with the smooth talk.”
I finished my meal and handled my chores. It was 11:00 AM, a quiet morning with no customers.
“Ow, that hurts.”
I was lying on my bed, groaning in pain, while Tresha and Sera had brought chairs over and were busy feeding the bird right next to me.
“Aww, look at him eat~”
“Good boy. Oh my, Unnie, should we bring more food?”
“Should we? Do we need to give him more?”
That thing might not even be an owl. Is it a human? It’s living the high life the moment it was born.
“So, did you give it a name?”
“Walter! How is it? Isn’t it a cool name?”
“Is it a male?”
“Um... I’m not really sure?”
Walter? If it’s a male, it’s not a bad name. If it’s a female, well, that’s a shame. Having them giggling over the baby bird all day made it hard to tell if my muscles were recovering or not. My head was spinning.
When I asked why they were doing this in my room, they just said 'just because.' How could they? I’m a patient... I hate the world!
“Ugh. I should get up.”
“Oh, Yoo Eon. Weren’t you hurting?”
“It’s complicated. I might be hurting, or I might not be.”
“Uh-huh, really? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to move around a bit in the backyard. You stay here.”
In the end, I was practically kicked out of my own room. I moved my body in the backyard. It felt like the muscles I wasn't using were gradually recovering. Or maybe they weren't.
Do they recover even when I’m not using them? I wasn't sure. But I definitely felt like I was getting better, so I’d have to look into it properly later.
First, let’s see if I can lengthen my tail. The bones inside the tail were all different sizes, but if I fitted them together in order, it shouldn't matter much. The cartilage was a bit of an issue, though.
“It works.”
They attached without much trouble. Since I’d forced a short tail to lengthen by piecing it together, I wasn't sure about its strength, but I could worry about that a little less now.
This ability was versatile enough to create entirely new organs that humans didn't have. Layering tendons that weren't originally there over muscle fibers was child's play.
There were plenty of tendons I hadn't been able to use before because I didn't understand their structure. I’d worried that because it was hard to distinguish between muscle and tendon, connecting them to the wrong place might ruin my body.
‘But with a tail, that’s not an issue.’
A tail has a simple muscle orientation. If I connected them straight, I could generate much more power.
Inside the 1.7-meter-long tail, I crammed in the tendons of the creatures I’d eaten so far. I moved it around, removing connections that hindered movement or shifting their positions.
Finally, I distributed the incredibly dense and hard thigh bones of an Ursus to reinforce the tail’s strength.
“This is incredible.”
I could generate enough strength to support my own body weight with just the tail. As it got longer and gained more muscle, the power it could exert at the tip increased. The power of tendons really was something else.
Whoosh—
The tip of the tail, swung with full force, sliced through the air like a whip.
I hadn't been hit by it, but the terrifying sound alone was enough to realize its power. What if I added the power boost from Bleeding Berserk? What if it was night and I had the Direwolf’s awakening effect, or if I poured water on myself to trigger the Lizardman’s traits...?
“They’re all dead meat.”
Having moved my body and used my brain all day, I was incredibly hungry. I hadn't realized how much time had passed; the sun was already starting to set.
I retracted my tail and lay on the ground, looking up at the sky. Something white was flying far off in the distance.
‘A pigeon? A magpie...? Probably not. Is there a bird that white?’
It was too far to see clearly. What was that? It seemed to be coming this way.
“Uh-oh.”
The white object, which had been circling in the sky for a moment, suddenly began a vertical dive toward my head.
“Wait, that’s...”
Tap—
A light, white object landed on my forehead.
‘Come do an errand.’
As expected, it was a paper airplane sent by Albresto.
“I was wondering when they’d call.”
I’d tried to get some rest, but I guess it couldn't be helped.