Chapter 106: Alliance
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 106: Alliance
【Argentavis LV70(-15)】
【Argentavis】
A giant bird of prey with a body length of about 3.5m and a wingspan exceeding 6.5m.
It primarily hunted small animals on the ground, but its massive size and sharp talons allowed it to prey on larger animals as well.
It is an apex predator befitting the title 'King of the Skies'.
It was unbelievably massive for a bird.
The status window shows the typical size for its species.
This meant that creatures above a certain level were larger than what was indicated in the status window.
It was so huge it could stand its ground even against the Human-faced Bird.
However, it seemed to be a notch below the Snake Queen, as I was able to check its level.
And that level was a whopping 70.
The highest level I could see.
Seeing the minus sign after it, it had to be in a weakened state due to injury.
“Kieeeek!”
The Argentavis, flying at high speed, came to a halt right in front of the Snake Queen.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
The Argentavis hovered in place, glaring at the Snake Queen.
The Snake Queen met its gaze head-on, not looking away.
It was a truly volatile situation, ready to explode at any moment.
Flash!
A flash of light erupted from the Argentavis's body at almost the same time a mist enveloped the Snake Queen.
It had begun.
Their battle.
Its massive body shrank rapidly.
A middle-aged man with brown hair, dressed in fine clothes, appeared.
The wings attached in place of his arms suggested he was the former king of birds I had seen before.
“You didn’t come here to kill me, I presume.”
If the Snake Queen resembled a Lamia from mythology, then the Argentavis looked like a Harpy.
Wait, aren't harpies supposed to be female?
I secretly swallowed my complaint.
The Snake Queen had also, at some point, transformed into her human form.
“Your reception for a guest is quite late.”
She shot a glare at the Argentavis with her usual expressionless face.
I’m glad she’s on my side. If someone looked at me like that, I wouldn’t be able to do anything but gekgek.
The Argentavis sat on a protruding rock.
“Hoo.”
The Argentavis crossed his legs and let out a sigh.
He looked like he wanted to say something but was holding it back.
“You just came barging in. What reception are you talking about?”
“Who are you trying to fool? You already heard the message.”
“‘The Snake Queen is on the move.’ Who would prepare a reception after hearing that?”
Despite their words, their relationship didn’t seem that bad.
They were at a level where they could hold a conversation, at least.
…Actually, maybe the conversation was only possible because the Snake Queen had declared war with a Destruction Ray.
It was the Argentavis who backed down first.
“Is Little Dragon doing well?”
So they had a connection.
That old geezer was a more impressive lizard than I thought.
“I don’t know why you’re asking me that.”
The Snake Queen said this, then glanced at me.
“…He’s alive. He has a long life, that one.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief.”
An awkward atmosphere flowed between them.
This didn’t seem like a conversation I should interrupt.
I should just go play with Swish-Swish over there.
“I heard a rumor. That you’ve taken a companion.”
What? Why is the trouble suddenly headed my way?
The Snake Queen gave a slight nod, then grabbed my tail and pulled me over.
“Geeeek…”
Let go, you brute.
I struggled, but I couldn’t overcome the Snake Queen’s powerful grip.
I ended up resting my head on the Snake Queen’s lap like a pathetic lizard.
“So you really do have a companion. No wonder your personality seems to have softened.”
Softened? She just split that mountain range in half.
Maybe he meant it in the sense of a toxic substance?
“It’s a bit foolish of me, I know. But I couldn’t let him go.”
The Snake Queen gently scratched the spot between my brows.
My eyes slowly closed.
But I couldn’t fall asleep. Swish-Swish was busy biting my tail.
“Hiek!”
That hurts, Swish-Swish.
The Argentavis stared blankly at me purring, then changed the subject.
“You didn’t come all this way just to show off your companion, I assume.”
“That’s right.”
“Did you come as the Snake Queen, or as the daughter of Little Dragon?”
“I brought my companion and my heir. Are you saying you don’t know what that means?”
“…I wonder what business the Snake Queen has in this humble place.”
Daughter of Little Dragon.
It was just a guess, but it seemed Old Man Compy really was the Snake Queen’s father.
Not her biological father, of course.
“A proposal for an alliance.”
“An alliance?”
“Gaechalgoatal. That bastard has crossed the line.”
The Argentavis closed his eyes and slowly nodded.
The Argentavis had been defeated by the Human-faced Bird.
His title as King of the Birds had been stolen, and he was forced to hide in a shelter like this instead of the vast jungle.
To him, Gaechalgoatal must be the target of his revenge.
“So you intend to strike him. I’ve heard the rumors. That the tide of war has turned in your favor.”
“My companion rendered a great service.”
“I agree with striking him. But…”
The Argentavis touched his right shoulder.
“I have long since grown old and weak. I won’t be of any help.”
It seemed the injury he sustained from his defeat against the Human-faced Bird had not yet healed.
However, we came here anticipating that.
The Snake Queen took an object that was stuck between my scales and held it with both hands.
The horn was so large she had no choice but to use both hands.
I quickly escaped from the Snake Queen’s lap.
The Snake Queen frowned, then silently handed the object to the Argentavis.
“Th-this is…!”
The Argentavis’s wings trembled.
The object the Snake Queen handed him was the horn of a unicorn.
No matter what kind of injury he had, that horn would surely be able to heal it.
“This… how on earth did you get this?”
“My companion went through some trouble for it.”
The Snake Queen and the Argentavis began to seriously discuss the alliance.
The forces they could deploy, the extent of Gaechalgoatal’s military power.
And when the treatment using the unicorn horn would be finished.
Honestly, it was all stuff I couldn’t understand even if I listened.
It was a conversation for adults, so a good little lizard should stay out of it.
I played around with Swish-Swish, who was nibbling on me, and waited for their conversation to end.
“Chirp!”
A tiny bird landed on my head.
A white, round bird.
【Long-tailed Tit LV25】
It was that cute bird, the Long-tailed Tit.
“Gekgek!”
So cute.
It’s on the same level as Swish-Swish.
“Hieeek!”
Swish-Swish let out a cry that sounded hurt.
I’m not saying one is ugly, I’m saying you’re both cute.
But for it to land on my head when we’ve never met before.
Is this what they call being chosen?
The corners of my mouth curled up.
“Chirp!”
Aww.
It was on my head so I couldn’t see it well, but even the slight glimpse of its feet was cute.
“Saaak!”
Swish-Swish angrily thumped its tail on the ground.
Could it be jealous?
Seeing its face turn into a triangle, it seemed so.
A face that perfectly matched the word ‘venomous.’
Now that there are two cute little things, it’s twice as cute.
Grrr.
I can’t take it anymore.
“Chiiirp!”
“Hiek!”
I grabbed both Swish-Swish and Chirpy and pulled them into my arms.
There was no particular reason; I just wanted to gather the cute things in one place.
“Saaaa!”
Swish-Swish opened its mouth wide as if to say, ‘You’re caught now.’
You can’t try to eat someone you’ve just met.
“Chiiirp!”
Surprisingly, the Long-tailed Tit also opened its beak wide.
Hey, aren’t you a bird?
Swish-Swish may look dopey, but it’s still a snake.
Maybe it’s too young to know better.
I stroked them alternately with both hands.
Don’t fight, and get along now.
“This will take longer than I thought.”
“Indeed. It’s difficult for now. But I promise I will not spare any support once my body has recovered.”
“Hmm… Right. Well, what’s important is that we’ll have forces capable of aerial combat.”
The Snake Queen and the Argentavis, deep in conversation.
It seemed their discussion was slowly wrapping up.
“…What is your companion doing over there?”
“Gaegaek.”
“Gaegaek?”
“Are you telling me you don’t know of Gaegaek?”
What the heck is that?
The Argentavis looked at the Snake Queen with that exact expression.
That had to be the normal reaction.
“…‘To grasp the high ground.’ How profound.”
Wait, he understands that?
“Gekgek.”
Chirpy slipped out of my hand and started showing interest in my teeth.
It has a good eye.
It must be like a crocodile and a crocodile bird.
Sorry, but the Snake Queen already cleaned them, so there’s no debris.
Even so, Chirpy stared endlessly at my teeth.
“Hiek!”
Swish-Swish, as if feeling competitive over something strange, also loitered near my teeth.
“Our talk is mostly finished. Since you brought your companion and heir, I should show the proper courtesy as well.”
“You’re quick.”
“I couldn’t very well prepare in advance. How was I to know you wouldn’t try to kill me and take my inner core?”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
The King of Birds took out a gourd bottle from between his feathers.
“It’s a nameless liquor. In honor of our alliance, I’d like to share a drink.”
Liquor!
It seemed all spirit beasts had at least one bottle on hand.
Then again, if they could take human form, they could probably brew it themselves.
“A cup for your companion, and a cup for your heir.”
The Long-tailed Tit and Swish-Swish were bickering.
They seemed to be having a discourse about my teeth.
Now Swish-Swish and Chirpy were trying to get right inside my mouth.
It was pitiful watching them struggle to open my mouth, so I just opened it for them.
I just hope they don’t bite my uvula.
“And also, to introduce my daughter.”
“A daughter? You had an heir?”
“Yes.”
Hearing that made me feel like I’d truly entered high society.
If it’s the Argentavis’s daughter, doesn’t that mean she could grow up to be the Queen of Birds?
The heirs of the Snake Queen and the Argentavis.
And one lizard who appeared like a comet.
Wasn’t this like the rising stars of the younger generation gathering at a Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?
“A daughter I raised with the utmost care within this place, so that no one else could touch her.”
I’m getting excited.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed seeing the Argentavis’s human form.
He was cool, but he was still a harpy.
And it’s an immutable truth of the universe that harpies must be female.
If the Argentavis had a daughter, it meant I might get to see a female harpy.
…Not that it’s my preference or anything. It’s just a process of satisfying my intellectual curiosity.
“White feathers, a plump little body. Just watching her naturally brings a smile to my face.”
White feathers.
I wonder what she looks like.
“She chirps ‘jjaek-jjaek’ every morning, and these days, I feel like that’s what keeps me going.”
My goodness, I’d love to hear that at least once.
“Chirp, chirp.”
Huh?
White feathers. A plump body. A chirping sound.
…Don’t tell me it’s you?
“Hmm. That’s strange. I’m sure she was following me.”
So, you’re saying your precious, precious daughter is currently inside my mouth?
I can’t get caught.
If I get caught, forget being a companion, I’ll be erased from existence.
And for good reason, since Swish-Swish was also in my mouth.
“Hmph. To be so careless with your own heir.”
“Well, I don’t think there’s anyone in this territory who would dare touch my daughter.”
“If you’ve brought out liquor, then pour it. Look at my companion. He’s drooling, isn’t he?”
No. That’s not why I’m drooling.
“Oh? To be drooling so much. And there’s a white feather, too…”
The Argentavis stopped talking.
“…A white feather?”
“Chirp, chirp!”
“Hiek!”
They say if you keep your wits about you, you can survive even when bitten by a T-Rex.
Let’s think as positively as possible.
“Gweeeaaargh…”
Three months was a long life!
*
報累秀
The Mirror of Possibilities in the Snake Queen’s temple.
It was shattered to pieces, but the Snake Queen did not dispose of the mirror.
This was because it still retained a faint amount of its power.
However, it could no longer perform its original function.
An obvious result, given that the mirror was broken.
But a new function, unknown even to the Snake Queen, had emerged.
It could now show the possibilities not of the one reflected in it, but of someone else.
The image of someone who had entered the sight of the one who broke the mirror—the black lizard—briefly surfaced on its surface.