Chapter 102: I've Wasted Half My Life!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: I've Wasted Half My Life!
Ehehe.
Ehehe?
It was a laugh I never thought the Snake Queen I knew could make.
And it was the same for Swish-Swish.
She was clearly just as shocked.
So.
“Gehehe.”
“Hieee.”
Teasing her like this was completely justified.
To be honest, I'd always had a vague sense of fear toward the Snake Queen.
And for good reason. She was a spirit beast so powerful I still couldn't even see her level.
My first impression of her was terrifying enough to make my knees buckle, so it was only natural.
Of course, living so closely together, that fear had dissipated.
I’d learned she was gentler than I expected and generous enough to shower me with elixirs.
Her internal energy pouch was deep, too.
Besides, she spent more time in her human form than her true form.
Was it because it was more comfortable for her, or was she being considerate of Swish-Swish and me?
Whatever the reason, it was a good thing for me.
Of course, even in human form, she retained that unique aura of hers.
When she stared at me with those serpentine eyes and quietly flicked her tongue, I could perfectly understand how a mouse felt when facing a giant snake.
But what about now?
She looked so harmless that even that coward, Tang Soyeong, would probably feel safe enough to pinch her cheeks.
Of course, that would just result in a new Tang Soyeong-shaped statue being added to the temple.
“…Didn’t I say it was a misunderstanding?”
The Snake Queen trembled, but she couldn’t hide the fact that her eyes had gone all round.
Swish-Swish is the Snake Queen’s daughter.
But since she wasn’t her biological daughter, their faces didn’t resemble each other.
The Snake Queen had a face that anyone would immediately recognize as serpentine, even in her human form.
Swish-Swish, on the other hand, despite being a snake herself, had a round face that somehow reminded you of a puppy.
That was the difference between them.
But now, that gap had narrowed considerably.
If someone said they were mother and daughter now, no one would doubt it.
She looked exactly like Swish-Swish’s mother.
So round.
I started to wonder if Basilisks were actually an evolution of Ball Pythons.
That was the thought that crossed my mind.
“Gehehe.”
I swayed my body, mimicking the Snake Queen’s laugh.
“Hiek-ek.”
Swish-Swish joined in, wagging her tail.
The Snake Queen, seemingly having no resistance to teasing, fidgeted, unsure of what to do, before lowering her head.
Her ears were bright red.
When she showed me something like that, I couldn't hold back.
“Stop it.”
Teasing others is the most fun thing in the world.
“Gehek!”
“Hieeek…”
Swish-Swish’s voice suddenly changed.
I turned my head to look at Swish-Swish. No, to be precise, I looked at where Swish-Swish had been.
Where’d she go?
Before I could even figure out what was happening, my body was flying through the air.
The Snake Queen had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and lifted me up.
“Ge, gek!”
Let go!
I opened my mouth wide, planning to intercept the fingers holding me up, but being held by the scruff drained my strength.
“Hieeek!”
Quick-witted Swish-Swish was already wiggling away.
Hey, not my Swish-Swish!
“I said, stop it.”
The Snake Queen gritted her teeth.
“Gek.”
Yes, ma’am.
I nodded my head frantically. I’ll stop teasing you.
With a sigh, the Snake Queen set me down on the ground.
She grabbed the tail of the fleeing Swish-Swish and dragged her back, then continued in a calm voice.
“…It was to show you just how dangerous the Okbong honey is.”
Swish-Swish and I exchanged glances.
No fool would believe that.
But if we called her out on it, we’d be petrified on the spot.
“Surely you don’t think I made such a sound just because a single dango was delicious, do you?”
Of course not.
“Gek gek.”
“What’s with that look on your face?”
What’s wrong with my face?
“Are you thinking that a queen would be such a paltry being as to lose her composure over a single drop of Okbong honey?”
I wasn’t thinking that far.
“In truth, the Okbong honey doesn’t impress me much. As I said before, this was merely to show you that such people exist.”
As I nodded, a mischievous thought struck me.
The Snake Queen’s eyes were slowly returning to their usual sharp shape. Verbally, she was rejecting the Okbong honey.
What would happen if I introduced another one into this situation?
I hadn’t eaten my share of the dango yet.
“Gek gek.”
“Yes. I, with the Okbong honey…”
The corner of the Snake Queen’s eye twitched. It was because she had seen the dango in my small hand.
“Ahem, ahem! Hurry up and put it in your mouth.”
I shook my head.
“Gegek.”
Then I subtly pushed the dango toward the Snake Queen.
Want another one?
The Snake Queen glanced over at Swish-Swish.
Swish-Swish was preoccupied with finishing the dango she had started earlier.
Once at Swish-Swish.
Once at the dango.
Once at me.
Back to the dango.
Gulp.
“…If you’re going to refuse it so strongly, I suppose I could take care of it for you.”
“Gek gek.”
Welcome, paltry being who loses her composure over a single drop of Okbong honey.
“Agh.”
The Snake Queen took the dango I offered as if to say, “to hell with it.”
Haap.
Chomp.
The Snake Queen’s expression melted.
The first time she made that laugh, it must have been an unavoidable accident.
“Ehehe…”
The Snake Queen let out a foolish laugh.
She immediately clamped a hand over her own mouth, but she couldn’t hide her disheveled expression.
…Let’s say the first time was a fluke.
She might have made the sound without realizing it.
But she would have been on high alert the second time.
And she still went ‘ehehe’?
Was the Okbong honey really that dangerous of an item?
No way.
Swish-Swish made a ‘hiek’ sound, but she didn’t react as strongly as the Snake Queen.
The Snake Queen just had a sweet tooth.
The ‘ehehe’-ing Snake Queen made a complicated expression.
“I can never go back to how I was before…”
Please don’t say things that could be misunderstood.
“I feel like I’ve been wasting half my life.”
…And is ‘life’ even the right word for her to use?
*
The Snake Queen carefully stored away the container with the remaining dango.
Seeing her gulp, it looked like she’d be taking them out to eat again soon, but well, she’d figure out what to do with them.
I didn’t really need those dango.
The status window didn’t judge them to be elixirs, and besides, I’d already eaten plenty of them back in the Silver Dragon Cave.
And since the Snake Queen liked them so much, I could afford to give them up.
The Snake Queen gives me far more than I give her.
You could call her the Giving Basilisk.
Of course, I didn’t do it expecting anything in return, but if she insisted on giving me something, I wouldn’t refuse.
After hiding the Okbong honey dango somewhere, the Snake Queen picked up the unicorn’s horn she had set down earlier.
“Right. Now that we have the unicorn’s horn, it’s time to go meet the former King of Birds.”
This was the reason we needed the unicorn’s horn: to request an alliance with the former King of Birds.
To be more specific, the former King of Birds had been defeated by the Human-faced Bird.
The unicorn’s horn was an item with outstanding healing properties.
The plan was to present this item as a gift to easily secure the alliance and to heal Argentavis’s injuries, thereby reinforcing our military strength.
“Still, he is a former king, so the queen should go in person.”
Even if he was defeated by the Human-faced Bird, he was still the former King of Birds.
It would be better in many ways for the queen to go herself rather than just sending a subordinate.
“Princess. Prepare to leave.”
It seemed she was taking Swish-Swish along.
She couldn’t just leave Swish-Swish alone, and bringing her heir would emphasize just how seriously she was taking this matter.
It was a good decision.
“And my companion, too.”
“Gek?”
Huh?
“Whoever kills the King of Birds will rule the skies for the time being. It would be good for you to make an impression on him.”
So, does that mean she’s helping me build some connections?
If that’s the case, there’s no reason to refuse the offer. In fact, I welcome it with open arms.
I’ve gotten this much just from one Snake Queen; since that one was also called a king, he must have a huge stash of amazing elixirs.
“Gek gek!”
I let out a positive gek-gek sound.
Oof, I’m drooling.
“A wise decision. If my companion comes with us, the talks will conclude much faster.”
The corners of the Snake Queen’s mouth lifted. It was a smile closer to an ‘ufufu’ than an ‘ehehe’.
“I’m going to show them the cards I’m holding.”
“Gegek?”
“Gogadurisu’s betrayal was a rather famous incident. There were many cowards who thought the balance of this jungle had been tipped.”
“Gek gek.”
“But now, I have a card even greater than Gogadurisu. A spirit beast strong enough to execute the traitor has joined me. In other words, the Snake Queen is still going strong. No. My faction is even more powerful than before. I need to let those fools know.”
The gist of it was this.
Gomodo-Lania was like a newly emerged supernova.
There were far more beings who didn’t know of me.
She planned to publicly announce that a new spirit beast had joined the Snake Queen’s faction.
Does this mean I’m being acknowledged in my own right?
It’s just that I saw an out-of-spec monster like Baek Yeon-yeong early on; in reality, even someone at my level was an incredibly strong spirit beast.
I even had my own faith, something most spirit beasts lacked.
I also had an internal energy cultivation method I’d created myself.
I could wield the opposing attributes of fire and cold.
Using poison arts was a given.
My defense, thanks to my Dragon Scales, was incomparably superior to other creatures of the same weight class.
I could block attacks from enemies twice my weight without much trouble.
So was speed my weakness?
Not at all.
My footwork, led by the Little Dragon's Ascending Heaven Steps, was one of my main skills.
The beasts who faced me as an enemy must have all cursed me under their breath.
If they were wary of my fire, I’d hit them with cold. If they were wary of that, I’d use poison.
If they got into close combat, they’d get hit with the Nine Yin White Bone Claw.
And if they tried to create distance, they’d be intercepted by the Gaegaek Death Beam.
…Even I have to admit, I’m pretty shameless.
But what can you do?
They should try coming back after eating ten inner cores, a Thousand-Year Hwari, Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng Wine, Gongcheongseokyu, and a Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Spirit Fruit.
“Therefore, my companion.”
The Snake Queen continued in a solemn voice.
Unlike when she had that silly grin, her voice was filled with its usual dignity.
“Prepare to wash yourself.”
Huh?
“Gegek?”
That’s a weird conclusion, isn’t it?