Chapter 147: The Iron Mace of the Marketplace
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: The Iron Mace of the Marketplace
Baek Seol-hwa briefly explained Baek Yeon-yeong's condition.
She said it had been a long time since she'd seen her sleep so peacefully.
Apparently, she usually recovered from fatigue through Qi Cultivation instead of sleeping at all.
In other words, she seemed to be sleeping soundly because I was by her side, so she asked me to continue doing so.
“Gek.”
Of course, she didn't ask for free.
She said that if I helped Baek Yeon-yeong sleep comfortably, she would specially cook a meat dish for me tomorrow.
That was enough to make me drool.
It wouldn't just be raw meat, but cooked meat.
Honestly, being in a lizard's body, I wondered if cooked meat would suit my palate better than raw meat.
But thinking back to the taste of the meat I grilled and ate with Tang Soyeong in the swamp, I figured cooked meat wouldn't be so bad.
Besides, the one doing the cooking was none other than Baek Seol-hwa.
That cooking pouch of hers was no ordinary thing.
She likes sweets, and certain parts of her body are quite fatty.
She must have a discerning taste for food.
Baek Seol-hwa gave me a stern reminder and quietly left the room.
I was worried Baek Yeon-yeong might wake up from all the explaining, but she just kept sleeping soundly, snoring softly.
If the status window were a little more proactive, a quest would have probably popped up.
[Guard Baek Yeon-yeong's sleep.]
[Reward: Seol-hwa's delicious food.]
It was a very easy quest.
I could have just stayed still and played on Baek Yeon-yeong's hand.
But I am the divine beast of the Gaegaek Cult, Gomodo-Lania.
Staying still just wasn't in my nature.
My life has been a relentless pursuit of strength, making use of every spare moment.
Doing nothing would be an insult to that life.
I'd rather live as a hungry lizard than a full pig.
“Gek.”
Baek Yeon-yeong was asleep.
Sound asleep, at that.
Which meant I could move around as much as I wanted.
In other words, I had to make the most of this opportunity.
If I played my cards right, I might even unlock a title or an achievement.
I got [Beloved by the Spider] just because the spiders liked me, so it wouldn't be strange to get something here.
For example, if I bit Baek Yeon-yeong's finger, I might get something like [The Fearless One].
“Gegek.”
I slipped out of her hand.
I was a little worried she might start whimpering like before, but it seemed she was fine as long as we were touching skin-to-skin.
I stood still and looked at her face.
What was that saying? That everyone looks like an angel when they're sleeping?
Even the fearsome Baek Yeon-yeong looked a little cute, sleeping so peacefully.
To think someone like this defeated the Human-faced Bird so easily.
She took care of Odusa in one blow, too.
Normally, she was an opponent so strong I wouldn't even dare to look at her.
But Baek Yeon-yeong and I had a master-disciple relationship, and right now, she was asleep.
She was defenseless.
“Gekgekgek.”
I let out a wicked laugh and moved closer to her face.
Bothering someone while they're sleeping is something only a beast would do.
An act that disqualifies you as a human.
But since I have the body of a lizard, wouldn't it be more fitting to say I qualify as a beast?
I can do whatever I want.
I mean, how could she sleep so soundly with this wicked beast right here?
Squish.
“Gekgek.”
I grabbed Baek Yeon-yeong's cheek.
This exquisite texture, both soft and firm.
It was addictive.
I pulled it this way, then that way.
I also messed with her ink-black hair.
Even I had to admit, this was too much.
To commit such a cruel act against my helpless master.
But you have to do dangerous things like this to unlock titles and achievements.
Using both hands, I squished and kneaded Baek Yeon-yeong's cheeks.
I wondered why she was always touching my body, but now I see this is surprisingly addictive.
“Whaddaya doin'?”
“Gekgek.”
What do you think? I'm playing with your face.
“…Gek?”
I froze.
With my hands still on her cheeks, I slowly lifted my head.
“I asssked... whaddaya doin'....”
Baek Yeon-yeong's cold eyes were staring at me.
“Gegegek!”
*
One limp lizard.
“Geeeehng….”
Baek Yeon-yeong, now awake, had done this to me.
She'd done everything short of putting me in her mouth; my small body had been thoroughly ravaged.
“How strange. To think I fell asleep.”
She gently stroked my head with her finger, but there was no way that would make me feel better.
“What's wrong?”
“Gek.”
“…Wait, Huiya. I think you've gotten a little bigger.”
“Gek?”
I examined my body.
I felt like I might have grown, but it wasn't noticeable to the naked eye.
Baek Yeon-yeong grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and lifted me up.
Then she stuffed me into the place I always burrowed into.
…No way.
“Look. You've definitely gotten bigger, haven't you?”
It was a tight fit.
“Gek!”
If I get any bigger, will I not be able to get in here anymore?
I had such a pathetic thought for a moment, but I quickly shook my head.
I am the divine beast of Gaegaek, Gomodo.
I should be happy that my body is returning to its original size, not disappointed.
“Hmm... I don't know the exact reason, but it seems we should just repeat what we did today.”
Repeat what we did today?
“From now on, come to my room every night.”
...Isn't that a slightly dangerous thing to say?
But I had no choice.
To get the food Baek Seol-hwa promised me.
And for my master's peaceful sleep.
I will sacrifice my one body.
“Gekgek.”
What a noble lizard I am.
I feel like I can hear a unicorn dying of joy all the way from here.
*
My daily life in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult went on like that.
In the mornings, I went over to Tang Soyeong's place for treatment.
“Keeeng!”
Whenever the spiders saw me, they would get flustered and try to do something.
It was very distracting, but I was trying my best to ignore them.
Tus, Pus, and Nephila Jurassica would drool, present their rears to me, and shoot out webs.
What on earth could that mean?
“Kiooong….”
“H-how can you do such a thing in broad daylight...”
Tang Soyeong would blush and glance back and forth between me and the spiders.
What kind of thing is this?
After the treatment was over, I had to undergo a new therapy Tang Soyeong had developed, which I didn't like.
“Ehehehe….”
Tang Soyeong laughed creepily.
“Kiooo….”
The spiders grabbed my legs and Tang Soyeong grabbed my arms.
Stretch, stretch.
Tang Soyeong and the spiders pulled, as if trying to forcibly stretch my body.
I wondered what this was all about, but it was actually effective.
My body had grown quite a bit by now.
“Ge-ek….”
After finishing the stretching exercises, I would sneak into Baek Seol-hwa's room.
“Gekgekgek.”
Foolish human.
I'd scoff like that while stealing and eating one dango every day.
Even as Baek Seol-hwa brought out the promised food, she would glare at me, seemingly displeased about something.
Later, she started begging me to be satisfied with dried persimmons instead of dango, but dragons are naturally greedy creatures.
I'll eat both.
Normally, she would have grabbed my tail and swung me around, but it seemed Baek Yeon-yeong's sleep was more important than I thought. Seeing her bring out the food without a peep proved it.
After eating the Dongpo pork she brought out...
I took a bite of a rather large dumpling...
“Hey, you perverted lizard!”
After being chased out by Baek Seol-hwa, I would wander around the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's grounds.
I wondered what would happen if humans spotted me, but I'd already been caught on the very first day.
Now that I was bigger, I was naturally spotted even more easily.
Since hiding was impossible anyway, I decided to just act confidently.
“A-a lizard...!”
The humans who had tried so hard to catch me at first had now changed their strategy.
“H-here, good boy. Want some of this?”
“Gek.”
Humans were now offering me tributes.
It seemed they'd realized they couldn't catch me, now that I had learned the movements of a Little Dragon.
Of course, a few people with formidable internal energy had approached me, but they always disappeared the moment I noticed them.
They probably figured a master of their level didn't need to go out of their way to catch a single lizard.
“Be careful! Last time, the elders tried to catch that lizard and ended up getting knocked out.”
“What? That lizard is that strong?”
“No. They say the Cult Leader knocked them out.”
“…Huh?”
The cultists were having a conversation I couldn't understand.
“Gekgek.”
By encountering humans so often, I ended up becoming a well-known spirit beast within the cult.
I guess you could say I was like one of those campus cats you see at universities.
A black lizard whose body grew bigger by the day.
The 100,000 Great Mountains might be home to various spirit beasts, but they'd never have seen one like me.
“Look at that! The lizard walked on two feet!”
“I heard it flies in the sky by stepping on raindrops when it rains.”
“And sometimes it shoots beams from its mouth!”
“They say it's a womanizer, for a lizard!”
I had gained my own followers.
At this rate, am I going to steal the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's followers?
I had that thought, but it seemed a bit unlikely.
Even though I had Baek Yeon-yeong's favor, she probably wasn't at the Cult Leader's level.
If that person known as the Cult Leader found out about this situation, I'd end up as Ko/mo/do.
Tang Soyeong had said the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a cruel bastard who would grind up a lizard like me and drink it.
“Gekgek.”
In the morning, I was a snack for Tang Soyeong and the spiders.
At lunch, the food and dango prepared by Baek Seol-hwa.
And for snacks, the food the cultists gave me.
By constantly eating like this, my body grew exponentially.
How big did I get? Big enough for Baek Yeon-yeong to hug me to sleep.
“Ge-ek…. Gegek!”
The thought of her hugging me to sleep made me indulge in a pleasant fantasy for a moment, but the reality wasn't so pleasant.
It was more like she was hugging a balloon to sleep.
If Baek Yeon-yeong had a nightmare, I might just pop.
I had no choice but to use my tail to adjust the blanket, making sure Baek Yeon-yeong could sleep as comfortably as possible.
And so, I grew day by day, from a hungry lizard to a full lizard.
Since I had bulked up like this in the wild, returning to my original size happened faster than I expected.
The vicious creatures Baek Yeon-yeong brought, including a Deathworm, eventually ended up in my mouth.
When I was small, they were intimidating, but now that I was bigger, they were nothing more than large chunks of meat.
And so I leveled up and continued to grow in size.
Finally, I reached the point where I had to use Miniaturization to enter Baek Yeon-yeong's room.
“You've grown quite a lot.”
Baek Yeon-yeong said, gently stroking my body before she went to sleep.
“Gekgek.”
To think I'm sleeping with a beauty like Baek Yeon-yeong.
It was an undeserved luxury, but one wrong move and I could end up as seasoned dried lizard.
Perhaps because I'd gotten bigger, she didn't allow me into her 'internal energy pouch' anymore.
I was just thinking of myself as a bamboo wife and staying stiff when she spoke.
“At this point, I suppose I can give you Odusa's inner core.”
“Gek!”
Finally...!
Odusa's inner core! I felt like I could cry tears of joy.
They called it Odusa, but no matter how you looked at it, it was a hydra.
In other words, that thing was a huge deal.
And its inner core was coming to me.
The time has come.
Time to become the three-headed lizard, King Gomodo-rah.
“Huiya. Have you ever heard of a fist art called the Marketplace Fist?”
“Gek?”
“Never mind. It just suddenly came to mind.”
Stop talking nonsense and just hand over the inner core.