Chapter 163: Painting Over
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 163: Painting Over
As I stared, mesmerized, at the red hair cascading down to her waist, my eyes eventually found the two horns on her head.
My surprise at the two horns was brief.
The next thing I saw were her golden eyes.
The Snake Queen.
And Baek Rang.
She had the same predatory eyes as them.
If you were to ask where my eyes went next, it would have to be her clothes.
I couldn't tell what they were made of, but they were truly beautiful.
Moreover, perhaps because her body held so much fire energy, there were large holes in certain areas, and I had some trouble tearing my eyes away.
After my gaze moved past her thighs and calves, there was one last place that caught my eye.
Her rear.
And the tail above it.
That appearance, and the name Red Dragon.
“Staring so intently is making me a little embarrassed.”
This woman was a dragon.
【Red Dragon】
A red dragon that wields fire energy.
Has a habit of making its nest in volcanoes and hoarding precious items.
Her personality is generally easygoing, but once angered, she is a dangerous being who will rampage until an entire volcano is destroyed.
She is a middle-rank dragonkin who holds the potential to become a true ?.
A Red Dragon, at that.
“Gek…”
Now I understood.
What that thunderous roar and killing intent from before were.
And why the Magnosaurus and the Fire Rat had come down.
“This hot spring really is the best.”
This dragon was the one occupying the volcano's peak.
Splash.
The Red Dragon moved her foot slightly, stirring the lava hot spring.
“The ones in the volcano are so bland. I scraped together everything I had to barely make this, and you know what? That old man threw a fit.”
Gulp.
I swallowed hard.
I think I misjudged.
She hadn't seemed that dangerous in her perfect human form.
My intuition is rarely wrong, and I have skills like Crisis Detection, so I entered this place feeling secure.
Of course, seeing her at the summit of a volcano, I knew she wouldn't be ordinary.
Even if she was hiding her power, I'm quite strong myself now.
I thought I could at least escape.
But I was wrong.
Before this woman, I couldn't even run.
“So, you're that lizard?”
The Red Dragon spoke as if she knew me.
Fortunately, the fact that she was talking to me suggested she didn't intend to do anything to me.
“You have Dragon Scales and Dragon Blood. Seems about right. Well, I could tell just by looking at your face, though.”
“…Gek?”
“What's with the 'gek'? Anyway, you are that lizard, right?”
What lizard?
Speaking as if she knew me, she must have some connection to me.
The Snake Queen couldn't have told her.
Baek Yeon-yeong had been with me, too.
How did she know about me?
“What, don't tell me you can't talk?”
“Gek gek.”
Sorry, but I'm not at that level yet. If you want me to gek-gek, I can do that for you.
“Why can't a spirit beast of this level talk?”
“Gek?”
Huh?
From the way she was talking, it sounded like I should have been able to speak long ago.
“It's not just that you can't speak human language, you can't speak the language of beasts either?”
What? That's a separate thing?
No, it wasn't that strange.
Baek Rang communicated with her pack, and the Snake Queen always conversed well with Swish-Swish, so they must have had their own languages.
But me?
“That's strange. No matter how young you are, you should have at least learned how to talk.”
The Red Dragon's eyes narrowed.
“Geek…”
Her distinctly reptilian vertical pupils stared at me, and I felt my body instinctively shrink back.
“You really are different.”
Tap, tap.
The Red Dragon tapped her own thigh.
Is she telling me to come over?
If I had my way, I'd moonwalk out of here, but that would surely get me turned into a roasted lizard.
I crept cautiously toward her.
Tap, tap.
…You're the one who told me to come, okay?
As she requested, I rested my head on her thigh.
I worried my head might get lopped off, but if that was her plan, she would have attacked already.
The pleasantly hot temperature was strangely addictive.
It was a different feeling from Baek Rang's.
“Gek!”
I had a strange thought without realizing it.
Is this a side effect of the recent battle?
Get a grip.
This is not the time for such thoughts.
“…I did tell you to come, but aren't you a little too unguarded?”
The Red Dragon placed a hand on my head.
She stroked it with just the right amount of pressure.
I felt my eyes closing on their own.
….
…….
“Gekgek!”
Trying to use her wicked arts on me again.
A lizard of my caliber can't be neutralized this easily.
She must have used some kind of brainwashing.
“Hmm… Strange. Judging by your scales, you seem young. But the way you keep trying to burrow between my thighs makes you seem like a black-hearted little rascal.”
“…Gek?”
“Your body is young, but your mind doesn't seem to be, does it?”
The Red Dragon's vertical pupils stared at me.
“You weren't born here, were you?”
My heart sank.
How in the world did she know?
Even Baek Yeon-yeong didn't know that.
It was information no one could possibly know unless I revealed it myself.
But how did this being, the Red Dragon, figure it out in an instant?
That I came from another world, not this one.
“Don't worry too much. I'm from somewhere else, too.”
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly once again.
Is she a member of the community I blew up?
If so, the moment my identity was revealed, I'd be torn in half.
Because I had unleashed a true abyss there, one that Maid Spino couldn't even compare to.
“Why so tense? I'm from the Western Regions, so I don't care about that stuff. Well, you must be from somewhere else.”
Fortunately, my worries were unfounded.
It seemed when she said 'somewhere else,' she meant a different region, not a different world.
Seeing as she was a dragon, she must have flown in from somewhere in the West, not the Central Plains.
“Gek gek…”
Good, it seems my identity hasn't been exposed yet.
…But that didn't mean the problem was solved.
For now, I was caught by the Red Dragon.
I might be able to escape if I struggled, but let's save that as a last resort.
It's best to avoid a fight you can't win.
For whatever reason, she didn't seem to want to attack me, so I should probably just play along.
…Maybe she wants to make a lizard friend?
I may look like this, but I'm a lizard who can evolve into a Crushing Dragon if things go well.
A Crushing Dragon should be a match for a Red Dragon.
“If we live together, you'll learn how to talk on your own.”
“Gek?”
Isn't that a bit irresponsible?
…But live together? What does that mean?
“If I had my way, I'd take you to my nest.”
Squeeze.
The Red Dragon's hand grabbed the scruff of my neck.
“Geeeek…”
It didn't hurt, but I felt my strength draining away.
Is it because dragons are also a type of lizard? She seemed to know a lizard's anatomy well.
When I'm held here, my eyes just close on their own.
“…You're not fully grown yet, but I wonder if it's okay to touch you?”
“Gek?”
My closed eyes flew open.
What are you talking about?
“Gegegegek!”
I let out a cry to emphasize that I was only six months old.
“It's a joke, a joke.”
Phew.
She's more humorous than she looks.
“That wench wouldn't stand for it, anyway.”
“Gek?”
“I had a hard time getting in here, you know?”
Who would a spirit beast of this level be wary of?
Baek Rang? The Snake Queen?
No, a being stronger than them.
“No, when you think about it, I was here longer. But just because she's a little strong, she treats me however she wants, you know?”
Baek Yeon-yeong.
The Red Dragon knew my master.
She should have said so sooner.
I thought I'd run into some weirdo, but she was a private tutor hired by my master, wasn't she?
A being who knows how scary Baek Yeon-yeong is wouldn't treat me poorly.
And since she's a dragon, she might even be able to help with the Dragon Gate trial.
…But does it make sense for Baek Yeon-yeong to bring in another master?
Why, from what I know of wuxia, don't people usually have only one master?
You can have multiple, I guess, but knowing my master's personality, I doubt she'd allow someone else.
“Still, she probably wouldn't say anything if I raised you to eat you, right?”
“Geeeeek!”
The moment I tried to struggle, an overwhelming pair of fire pouches blocked my face.
This woman was terrifying.
To think she knew the strategy for dealing with a Gomodo-Lania so well.
The magnificent fire energy was suffocating me.
“Yay. I got myself a handsome-scaled lizard.”
The Red Dragon made a V-sign with her fingers.
Right now, I was just a lizard who had crawled into a dragon's nest.
To survive, I had to escape this place.
Poof.
…Maybe I'll stay just a little longer?
She'll probably teach me something, so I should learn what I can.
Baek Rang couldn't hide her anxiety.
A considerable amount of time had passed since the lizard challenged the Dragon Gate.
Yet he still hadn't returned.
There was no way the lizard could have lost, so he must have just left.
“Kkiing…”
Seeing no sign of the lizard, the wolves of the pack whimpered.
The lizard was going to leave eventually anyway.
He had met her for the Dragon Gate trial, and she had stayed with him for the sake of her territory.
She had received what she was owed and given what she had to give.
Their relationship was now over.
“…What's so great about a hairless thing anyway.”
Baek Rang muttered quietly.
No one knew if her words were directed at the wolf pack or at herself.
“It's good that he's gone, really. The cave was too cramped when he was here.”
She used to curl up beside the lizard to sleep.
He was so large that she had no choice but to press against him.
“Now it's so much more spacious.”
There was no need for that anymore.
The space the lizard had left behind was vast.
“……This is why I told myself not to get attached.”
“Kkeueung…”
Chillang-i came to her side.
“He's already gone.”
“Kkiing…”
Chillang looked at Baek Rang with sad eyes.
There was no reason to hold the lizard back.
Still.
Isn't it too much to leave without a word?
Baek Rang thought deeply.
The lizard she knew would have at least stopped by once before leaving.
In that case, could he have lost to the Fire Rat?
That didn't seem right either.
The lizard she knew was strong.
“…Right. Maybe he got injured fighting that Fire Rat.”
Baek Rang muttered, as if making an excuse to herself.
“If I treat his wounds, he'll owe me a huge debt, right? …Still, he's a good hunter, so it might not be a bad idea to keep him around.”
“Awoong…”
Chillang rubbed against her happily.
Baek Rang stood up.
This was for her pack.
It wasn't because she wanted to see the lizard.
Climbing a volcano where he might not even be was a truly reckless act, but this was for the pack.
It was something she must do as the leader.
Thus, Baek Rang painted over her own feelings.
It was a very thin coat of paint, one that could peel off at any moment.