Chapter 122: The Father-in-Law's Acknowledgment
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122: The Father-in-Law's Acknowledgment
“Krrwarak!”
The old Compy charged at me like a madman.
What was wrong with this old geezer? Did he eat something bad?
“Gekgegek!”
“Kraaaak!”
His cry alone was unusual.
He never had a great personality, but I’d always thought of him as just a quirky prankster. Maybe even whacking my head with a stick had been his way of showing affection.
But this was different.
His usual “kek kek” had turned into a “krwa.”
Just as the old Compy leaped, about to sink his sharp teeth into my snout—
“Saaaaaaak!”
A terrifying face, as if embodying a demon. The usually gentle Swish-Swish glared at the old Compy with a ferocious expression.
Fwip.
The old Compy landed in a hurry.
“Ke, kekek?”
The old man’s cry suddenly turned docile.
“Saaaaaaaaak!”
There’s no parent who can win against their child. And certainly no grandfather who can win against his granddaughter.
Hey, old man who hit me, how do you feel now?
I put on a triumphant expression.
“Gegegek!”
“Krwa…”
Hearing my cry, the old man immediately made a scary face again.
“Saaaaak!”
Only to be immediately shut down by Swish-Swish.
“Kek…”
The old Compy looked at me as if his world had ended.
“Gekgek.”
You should’ve been nicer to me.
I gently scratched the top of my pretty Swish-Swish’s head.
“Purrrrr…”
“Keeeek!”
The old Compy screamed. One glare from Swish-Swish, and he immediately shut his mouth.
…He did look a little pitiful.
The standoff didn’t last long, because the old Compy completely surrendered and backed down.
“Kek kek.”
Just spare my life. No, just stop Swish-Swish.
That’s what he was trying to say.
“Gekgek.”
“Ppiyak!”
Swish-Swish’s face went back to its usual roundness, as if she’d never been angry at all.
The old man stared blankly at the scene before striking the ground once with his tail.
“Kek.”
“Gek?”
“Kek kek.”
The old man pointed at me and then at himself. Then he pointed at the other lizards.
As a perceptive lizard, I knew what he meant. He was probably telling me to shrink since I was too big. I might accidentally step on the other lizards, after all.
The old Compy was doing the dance he’d shown me before, all by himself. Though his face wasn’t blank this time.
But now I knew that dance was a lie. I remembered how much I’d suffered because of it.
“Gegegek!”
When I made a cry that said I knew the truth, the old Compy slumped.
Shwwwk.
I activated miniaturization without doing the dance.
“Ppi, ppiik?”
My body kept shrinking until I was finally the same size as the old Compy.
“Ppiiik!”
Swish-Swish suddenly found herself squashing me. Seeing her eyes sparkle, she seemed incredibly interested in my smaller body.
Well, last time she saw this body, she acted like she was about to swallow me whole.
“Ppiyak!”
Swish-Swish wagged her tail excitedly.
You’re cute, but let’s not do this here.
“Keeeeek!”
Look at the old Compy over there, practically coughing up blood. He’s trembling.
Swish-Swish seemed to notice, her expression turning coy.
I wondered if they’d met before. From what the Snake Queen said, it seemed they’d been estranged for quite some time.
…Could Swish-Swish be older than I think?
“Ppiyak?”
But hearing that chirping cry, I guessed not.
“Kek kek!”
The old man turned around first. This must be the border of his territory, so he was probably telling us to come further inside.
“Gek.”
I followed him with Swish-Swish. To be precise, I was riding on Swish-Swish’s back.
“Ppi, ppiik?”
Swish-Swish tilted her head.
I think riding a giant snake is the epitome of romance. But the only giant snake around me was the Snake Queen. And I couldn’t exactly ride her, so I took the opportunity while I was small to climb onto Swish-Swish.
“Keeeeeeeeek!”
You bastard!
I felt like I could hear such a scream.
“Gekgegek.”
But no matter what the old man said, I currently had Swish-Swish’s trust. He’d just have to grit his teeth and bear it.
“Gekugeku!”
“Gegegek!”
Admirably, the geckos were carrying the stone slab I’d brought. That thing must be pretty heavy. Your levels must be pretty high.
“Gekgek!”
And so, we headed toward the center of the territory.
*
A small welcoming ceremony was held.
The return of Gomodo-Lania, the hero of Little Dragon Village.
But with the Snake Princess in tow.
An unprecedented event that would make the geckos gasp and the blue-tongues kneel had occurred.
Swish-Swish and I enjoyed the ceremony.
Swish-Swish, who had been watching the geckos’ dance with disgust, seemed to get into it at some point. To be precise, she started wagging her tail and looking at me, as if she’d taken an interest in the choreography that involved biting the back of the neck.
Whatever the case, I hope she gets along with the lizards. The old Compy will take good care of her, but Swish-Swish will be living here for a while.
I say “for a while,” but it’ll be a week at most. I have to bring her back right after I defeat the King of Birds.
“Swish-Swish.”
“Kek…”
The old Compy was still flustered. Swish-Swish wasn’t hissing, but she wasn’t acting cute or anything either.
Still, as the ceremony neared its end, things improved to the point where the old man mustered the courage to gently stroke Swish-Swish’s head.
Of course, Swish-Swish immediately bit the old man’s head in return.
“Kek…”
Even though he was covered in slobber, he seemed happy to have gotten a little closer to his granddaughter.
The welcoming ceremony ended, and the gathered lizards dispersed one by one.
“Purrrrr…”
Swish-Swish had eaten her fill of the meat they provided and was now asleep. Maybe because she’s still growing, but she sleeps a lot.
Then again, she did just eat a good inner core. It seemed she was about to have a growth spurt.
Crackle, crackle.
A small bonfire flickered to life next to the sleeping Swish-Swish.
…How did he light it? Don’t tell me the old Compy breathed it out of his mouth. If he could do this, he should’ve made one last time.
The old man watched Swish-Swish with a pleased expression. Since we’re all reptiles, our bodies are sensitive to temperature. The old man had even lit a bonfire, something he doesn’t usually do, just in case his granddaughter was uncomfortable.
“Purrrrr…”
Swish-Swish was sleeping, even snoring. Even so, she stretched out her tail to grope for my body.
“Kek…”
The old Compy sighed. At this point, it seemed the old man had more or less given up.
Time passed, and the other lizards had all gone to sleep. A few nocturnal ones were rolling around and playing, but around Swish-Swish, it was just me and the old man.
In this hour when everyone was asleep, the old Compy brought over a bottle of alcohol.
They bring out Shaoxing wine when a daughter gets married, so should I call this ‘Lesser Shaoxing wine’?
Argentavis, the Snake Queen… It seemed all the famous spirit beasts had their own stash of alcohol.
Maybe I should tie up Tang Soyeong later and make her brew some for me.
…Would she poison it?
I sat down, having such idle thoughts.
The snacks the old Compy brought were nuts and dried fruit. At my original size, it would have been gone in a single bite, but I was currently miniaturized. It was enough for the two of us.
Glug.
The old man poured me a drink.
Glug.
I, in turn, poured a drink into the old man’s cup.
“Kek.”
Drink up. That’s probably what he meant.
I downed it.
“Geek!”
It was bitter. It seemed to be quite a strong liquor.
As soon as my cup was empty, it was refilled.
“Kek.”
Drink up.
“Gekgek.”
Kuh. It’s bitter, but it goes down smooth.
We continued to exchange drinks like that.
The old man’s face was serious, unlike usual.
Now for the main topic.
The Snake Queen and the King of Birds are about to clash. It was a major event that would change the power dynamics of this jungle in an instant.
It would be the same for every other being, but the old Compy’s mind must be even more complicated. Because those two were beings he had raised like his own children.
If it were just his adolescent son and daughter fighting, he could laugh it off, but now they were aiming for each other’s throats.
The old Compy stared at Swish-Swish for a long time. Then, he looked at me for a few seconds.
He tilted his cup once more.
“Kek.”
“Gek.”
The old Compy’s expression was dark.
I couldn’t read the characters the Snake Queen had written, so I didn’t know exactly what she wrote. But one thing was certain: the old man had been excluded from this battle. If he were the one to end things, he wouldn’t be making that face.
Anxiety, worry, sadness, pity. Perhaps anger. Or maybe even regret—such emotions bloomed on the old man’s face.
Old Man Compy, Honhwi, and Little Dragon.
Little Dragon means ‘small dragon.’ But small doesn’t necessarily mean young.
The old Compy wasn’t human, let alone a mammal. But I could see that he had grown very old.
Wrinkles, gray hair. I couldn’t find any such traces. It didn’t seem like he’d lost any teeth, and his claws were fine. But I could tell he was very weary.
Gaechalgoatal killed all of Little Dragon’s disciples. His disciples were beings he could have called his family. And the one who killed those precious beings was his own son.
If I were the old man, I would have been left with nothing but unconditional killing intent and hatred for Gaechalgoatal. But the old man wasn’t like that. As much as he worried about the Snake Queen, he was also worried about the King of Birds.
It was ironic. He couldn’t have forgiven that sin.
…As someone without children, it’s incredibly difficult to fathom the heart of a parent.
There was only one thing I could do.
Glug.
I poured a drink into his empty cup.
The old man stared at me for a long time. He picked up the bottle and poured a drink into my cup as well.
“Kek.”
We clinked our cups. The murky, cheap liquor sloshed. The cups were filled to the brim, so the overflowing liquor wet both my hand and the old man’s. But we paid it no mind and drank it all in one go.
The liquor was, as expected, bitter. But it couldn’t be as bitter as the taste in the old man’s mouth.
“Kek kek.”
Take care of my daughter.
Was it just my imagination, or did I hear him say that?
“Gekgek.”
Don’t you worry, old man.
Saying I’ll protect the Snake Queen, who’s much stronger than me, would be ridiculous. But at the very least, I can stay by her side.
[Little Dragon trusts you.]
…How embarrassing.
The old Compy downed the rest of his drink. Then, he handed me a small stone slab.
Looking at it, I saw it was an object with small sword marks and a drawing on it. A drawing of a figure pointing to the sky with one hand and the ground with the other.
I could tell at a glance that this was related to martial arts.
Old man, if you had something like this, you should’ve brought it out sooner.
“Kekekek.”
Of course, just looking at this probably wouldn’t let me master the martial art right away. Without a master like Baek Yeon-yeong, it would be difficult to understand the principles just by looking at it. In fact, aside from the drawing, I had no idea what the lines meant.
But that didn’t mean the slab was useless to me. The countless sword marks I’ve seen so far. And this stone slab, which was clearly extraordinary. All of it was accumulating. It was all nourishment that would allow me to grow explosively.
[Little Dragon wishes for your victory.]
[You have acquired 「Status: Little Dragon's Blessing」.]
The stone slab the old man brought out was probably a martial art containing his essence. He probably didn’t record it himself, but he must have built up such great power by studying it.
And now he was passing it to me, asking me to end the story of the Snake Queen and Gaechalgoatal in his stead.
“Gegek.”
But I’m not the kind-hearted lizard who grants favors for such things. I’m a clever lizard who acts purely for his own benefit.
“Kek kek.”
So, I’m not fighting Gaechalgoatal because he asked me to. I was going to do it anyway, so I’m just letting him feel indebted.
“Gegek.”
I met the old man’s gaze.
The dazed-looking Compy was no more.
The Snake Queen’s father, Swish-Swish’s grandfather.
And Little Dragon.
He extended his hand to me.
I politely took it.
The crackling bonfire. The cheap liquor that tasted only of bitterness, as if hastily brewed. Two lizards shaking hands in that place.
It was quite an interesting sight. But it probably wasn’t ridiculous.
We poured the rest of the alcohol from the bottle and downed it at the same time.
I was starting to feel a little drunk.
I looked again at the stone slab Little Dragon had given me.
…Wait a minute.
The figure in the drawing.
Why is its head empty?
“Gegek?”
I mean, it’s bald.
“Kek kek.”
Little Dragon looked at my head and laughed.
At my smooth, scale-less head.
“Gegegek!”
“Kekekekek.”
No way. Did you bring this out just to mess with me? Not to acknowledge me and teach me a secret martial art?
“Gegegegek!”
Give me back my heartfelt emotions