Anti-World Government Activist (1)
"I'm home."
As I said that and stepped inside, Lilith peeked out from the bedroom.
"B...
"Brought some."
I beat her to it, holding up the beer I'd picked up from the mart before she could even start hunting for it.
"Fuck, kid, we're totally in sync now, huh?"
I grumbled back at Lilith, who grinned slyly at me.
"When it's like this every damn day, yeah, of course."
It was pathetic, having a mom who went straight for the beer before even greeting her son who just got home from work.
"Fine, beer's sorted... but what about snacks? You didn't just grab beer and nothing else, right?"
"You like dumplings?"
"Only things I can't eat are bugs and birds."
Good enough.
Huh, so Lilith can't handle bugs.
I wondered what face she'd make if I brought home some silk larva stew.
Not that I'd do it—my tiny place would probably go up in flames that day.
Anyway...
"You seem in a good mood today. Something good happen?"
"Huh?"
Lilith tilted her head at me as she grabbed the beer I'd handed her with her tail and turned to head back to the bedroom.
"I look like I'm in a good mood? Me?"
"Yeah."
These past few days—ever since the trip to the botanical garden—she'd seemed pissed off about something, not in a good mood at all.
I'd had a girlfriend once, even if it was back at the orphanage, which wasn't exactly a dick farm. Anyway, I knew the deal. She was a woman too, so she had her off days. I hadn't said a word about it.
But it dragged on, so I knew it wasn't just that time of the month.
Today, though, she actually looked pretty upbeat, so I'd asked. Her lips pressed into a thin line at my question.
She stared at me in silence for a long moment before looking up and asking,
"I look like I'm in a good mood? Me?"
Shit. I'd stepped in it.
I didn't know how, but I'd clearly hit a nerve.
"Uh, hungry, right? I'll whip up those dumplings real quick..."
I tried changing the subject by holding up the bag, but Lilith wasn't tempted by the dumplings.
"Answer the question. What do you mean, I look like I'm in a good mood?"
She stepped closer, her red eyes boring into me. Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Fuck.
What the hell do you do in a situation like this?
I racked my brain, but nothing came to mind.
Should've grabbed a cake on the way home.
Hell, I didn't even know what I'd done wrong or why she was acting like this.
She'd looked happy, so I'd said she looked happy. What was the problem?
Then came the low buzz of a vibration.
Thought it was mine at first, so I yanked out my smartphone. But it was on silent after work, so it had to be Lilith's.
"...What?"
She frowned, pulled out her phone, and answered.
"What is it? You didn't already snag the thing I told you to hold onto, did you?"
—Ah, yes, Your Majesty! Actually...
A woman's voice from the other end. Lilith clicked her tongue.
"That thing? Hold on."
She dropped the phone onto the table and looked at me.
"...We'll talk about this later."
Couldn't we just drop it?
I watched her pick up the phone again and step away from me, letting out a sigh.
...Might as well change clothes first.
Getting chewed out like this wouldn't feel great.
I threw on something comfy and came back out. She was still on the call.
"No, you... fuck! No, forget the apology. It wasn't aimed at you anyway. Apologies don't fix shit."
And she sounded pissed.
Fuck.
Bad feeling this was gonna spill over onto me.
She'd already soured before the call, and now she was even more furious. I started sneaking back toward the bedroom.
"Where you going? Hey, stop right there."
"Yup."
No such luck.
She called me out as I tried to slip away. I froze, and she walked over.
She let out a deep sigh.
"I'm gonna have to head out for a bit."
"Huh? Where to?"
She was a total shut-in who hunkered down at home munching snacks and beer all day except workdays. Where the hell was she going?
"It's... nah, you'll find out eventually anyway."
She sighed again.
"You. Who are you?"
"Wah, baby Han..."
"Cut the bullshit."
Not the mood for jokes, so I thought for a sec.
What was I?
The question that'd stumped philosophers for ages.
But Lilith wasn't after some deep philosophy. It was one of two things.
Lilith's adoptive son, Kang Hanjo.
Or dispenser Kang Hanjo.
Which one? I went with both.
"Your son. And a dispenser."
"Right. A dispenser."
Dispenser it was.
She nodded.
"And dispensers provide all sorts of services to non-humans. You know that already."
Of course. I was one.
I'd just come from milking Mano's tits dry, and before clocking out, I'd wrung every last drop from the extraction room.
"So what's that got to do with it?"
"...This world's a fucking mess, as you know. Way too many races crammed together. Normally you'd get one, maybe five living side by side at most. Here? Hundreds of species coexisting easy. Shit happens. Everyone's too damn different."
True that.
Some scientists said that even if it was fine now, a few generations down the line with all the hybrids popping up, it'd be a whole new level of clusterfuck party compared to today.
What if a giant-dragon hybrid was born? What if it grew into a colossal mega-dragon? Ghost story-level shit, but still.
If that happened, this already creaky world would go straight to hell.
Gigantamax dragon, my ass.
Apocalypse just thinking about it.
Setting aside those unrealistic what-ifs, problems from mixed-race hybrids were inevitable.
I probably wouldn't live to see it anyway—or I'd starve first. Never cared much.
Though now my lifespan was extending, so who knows.
"So?"
"...So shit comes up here sometimes. 'Sometimes' might be too mild—pretty often, actually. Anyway... something happened. And that goat bitch's stunt makes the other stuff look tame."
Goat bitch...
Only one Lilith called that: Sati, the pink-haired satyros I'd run into at the mart today.
Sati was tame?
Uh... tame?
"What happened?"
If Sati was tame, whatever went down was worse than what I'd dealt with.
My legs had nearly given out once. If that was tame, what the fuck?
Lilith scowled.
"Some crazy bitch took a liking to a dispenser and kidnapped him. Says she's making him her husband. Knocked out everyone trying to stop her—even the branch chief got seriously hurt."
Branch chief...
Didn't they say those guys were badass?
Lilith doubled as one here, so no comparison, but I'd heard branches put strong folks in charge to handle incidents.
Top brass like Lilith were succubi, so most branch chiefs were too.
Not because they were the same race as Lilith, but succubi were experts at this job.
Superior in magic, physical prowess—high-tier race that didn't lose to most.
Putting sex-obsessed succubi in charge of managing dispensers felt mismatched, but whatever.
Anyway, she hurt a succubus branch chief like that? Or someone on that level?
And took out the humans who supposedly rush in if a dispenser's hurt—ones I'd never seen?
"Whoever it is, she's gotta be fucking strong."
"Yeah. And a total psycho bitch. Kidnapping a dispenser? First I've heard of it. So yeah... I gotta go handle it. The branch chief there was pretty tough, and if some scrub goes, it'll just make shit worse."
I got why she was pissed.
She'd said major fuckery hit once a month. This must be it.
Explained why she kept singing the retirement tune.
Hell, I wanted to retire already, and I wasn't even in the game yet.
This was her problem now, but if I took over, I'd have to deal with crap like this.
I wouldn't be running around myself, but my head would throb like hell.
Fuck me.
Should I start grooming a successor now?
Anyway.
"So that's that..."
She looked at me worriedly. Knowing why made my chest warm a bit.
"Don't worry about me. Go do what you gotta."
"Worry? About you?"
"What else would it be?"
I stared, and she looked away.
"...Wasn't worrying. Just don't want you getting beat up by some weirdo again. You're weak as shit but great at mouthing off. I just wrapped up one mess—don't make me clean up yours. Not worried about you, so don't get the wrong idea."
We call that worrying.
I looked at my tsundere mom, and her eyebrow twitched.
"...Why the face? Pissing me off."
"Me?"
What'd I do?
I wasn't even smiling.
She glared, then spoke.
"...Anyway. She's gone into hiding with him, and she's got skills. If we don't move fast, tracking'll be tough. No clue how long, but won't be quick."
Won't be quick...
"How long?"
"Dunno... week at most?"
Not bad.
Thought it'd be weeks. Max a week.
"Just a week? What's the big deal? Something gonna happen in that time?"
She frowned.
"That's the problem. It might."
Paranoid much.
Minus the Sati thing, nothing major had happened. Just a week. Felt fine.
She looked like she wanted to argue but nodded.
"Yeah, just a week. Nothing'll happen."
Still, she looked up at me.
"But just in case, insurance."
"Insurance?"
Not a fan after orphanage shit.
But Lilith wouldn't push weird policies.
"Might as well get the good stuff. Lots of sketchy ones out there."
Like coverage for lost items from flying harpies.
"Not that. Lower your head."
Insurance meant head down?
I leaned in, confused.
"Fucking tall."
She went up on tiptoes.
Her huge tits came into view.
Lilith was stacked for real.
Hard to compare to massive ones like Ariadd or Mano, but still.
Why tits all of a sudden?
"Uh..."
Before I could ask, a soft smack on my forehead froze me.
"...There."
She pulled back, cheeks faintly red. I touched my forehead, still feeling it.
What the hell was that?
"Just insurance. Don't get weird ideas."
Telling me not to get ideas while her face got redder?
"...So what was that?"
A forehead kiss.
I knew, but my face heated up anyway.
"Infused a bit of my aura. Low-tier bitches won't notice, but anyone decent will."
"That okay?"
Me being her son was a secret—known only to friends like Ariadd and Hoaran.
Was this too obvious?
"Better than extra hassle. No one sharp enough to pick up on it anyway. Just gives 'em the vibe not to fuck with you."
Good then.
...Right?
Yeah, good.
Just insurance.
Yeah, insurance. No weird thoughts.
"Anyway, I'm off. Behave and take care of yourself. Got it?"
"Yup. Don't worry, go safe."
She eyed me skeptically but nodded.
"See ya."
She vanished in a spatial warp.
"A week, huh..."
Figured it'd be fine. I fired up the dumplings.
Ate them alone, but weirdly, I couldn't taste a thing.