Chapter 181: Haramsunae
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 181: Haramsunae
“Why has the white spirit beast come here?”
The Snake Queen stared at the unicorn with a frigid expression.
“One husband, one wife…”
The unicorn, which had been radiating a fierce aura, suddenly adopted a gentle gaze.
“Ssshaaaak!”
As if something had displeased her, Swish-Swish vented her anger, as if to say, ‘Serves you right!’
“Ilbung…”
Its initial ferocity vanished; the unicorn had turned into a gentle lamb.
“Ilbuung…”
It seemed mesmerized by the sight of the Snake Queen and Swish-Swish.
Anyway, it’s good to see you, unicorn.
You saved my life.
“Gek gek.”
“One wiiiiife!”
Hey, why are you only like this with me?
“One husband, one wiiiiife!”
A blue energy gathered at the unicorn’s horn.
Crackle.
Just looking at that energy made my body tingle.
It wasn’t that its absolute power was strong, but it was an energy completely incompatible with me.
My body was rejecting it.
“Ssshaaaaaak!”
Bzaaang!
Of course, it was subdued after being hit by a beam from the now triangle-shaped Swish-Swish.
“Ilbung…”
Why did it suddenly attack me after being gone for so long?
I couldn’t figure out the reason.
“Even if you are a divine unicorn, to act this way toward my companion… I cannot forgive this,” the Snake Queen said in a cold voice.
I appreciate you standing up for me, but the unicorn must have its reasons.
“Gek gek.”
I’ll handle this.
“…You will handle it?”
“Gek!”
I don’t know why, but the unicorn seems to dislike me.
There must be some kind of misunderstanding.
How could it possibly dislike me, the very symbol of purity?
I walked toward the unicorn, which wore a gloomy expression.
“Ilbung…”
It looked like it wanted to attack me, but it couldn’t with Swish-Swish and the Snake Queen glaring from behind.
In other words, we could now have a conversation.
“Gek ge-gek.”
I attempted to communicate with the unicorn.
At first, it refused to listen, but as I showed I had no intention of attacking, it gradually began to calm down.
“Ilbuuuu…”
Good. It seems to have calmed down almost completely.
This creature is one of the reasons I stopped by the jungle.
It possesses enough power to take down a Rakshasa Bird single-handedly, so recruiting it would be a huge help.
And I could probably find a good use for its horn now and then.
“Gek.”
Hey, unicorn.
“Ge-ge-gek.”
How long are you going to live alone?
I spoke to it with that nuance.
“…Ilbung?”
The unicorn’s expression changed.
It was a look that said it would at least hear me out.
“Gek gek ge-eng gek.”
The weather’s getting colder. You should be living happily with a pretty wife in a warm place.
“I-Ilbuuung…”
The unicorn’s tail swayed slightly.
From what I’d observed so far, I knew this unicorn traveled alone.
The fact that it ran to me on sight must mean it’s starved for affection, right?
We may have started as enemies, but we’d built a certain rapport.
“Ilbu… hehe…”
Was it imagining a future walking on a path of flowers? It let out a laugh similar to a bicorn’s.
“Gek gek.”
“Hehehe…”
Now that its heart seems moved, time for a follow-up.
“Ge-eng gek gek gek!”
There’s a bicorn I know, and her body is… whoa.
“Ge-gek gek.”
Her chest muscles are… whoa.
“Ilbung! Ilbung!”
Is it because he’s a male, too?
He’ll be shocked when he sees the bicorn I’m going to introduce him to.
Her chest muscles are seriously… whoa.
I’ve never seen anything so firm.
I think he’s about halfway convinced.
Time to seal the deal.
You think there’s only one bicorn like that?
“Ge-ge-ge-gek!”
I spread all ten of my fingers wide.
“Ge-ge-gek!”
There are a whopping ten of them!
“Ilbuuuuuu!”
The unicorn, which had been cheering with joy, suddenly froze.
“…One wife?”
Then, it looked down at its own lower body.
“Kraaaaaaahk!”
It let out a scream.
Touching its horn with its short arms, it cried out.
“Ilbuuuu! One wiiiiife!”
Fwoooosh!
It retraced its path at an incredible speed and disappeared.
*
…Did I make a mistake?
I wasn’t telling it to marry all ten of them, just letting it know there were a lot.
“So that’s what you were talking about.”
The Snake Queen sighed and restored the stone door the unicorn had smashed on its way out.
With her power of petrification, it didn’t take long to repair.
“…You do know what unicorns and bicorns are, don’t you?”
The Snake Queen, back to her usual self, continued in a calm voice.
I snuck a glance at her. It seemed my little intervention had extended my chastity a little longer.
I don’t know how long it will last, but for now, I’m safe.
“The unicorn reveres one, while the bicorn venerates more than one.”
It was a little different from the legends I knew, but it was still understandable.
For example, unicorns are for pure love.
Bicorns are for harems.
Isn’t that what she meant?
“Unicorns and bicorns are beings that are opposites in every way.”
“Gek gek.”
“When a divine unicorn is corrupted, it turns into a bicorn, so in a way, it’s only natural.”
A corrupted unicorn turns into a bicorn?
“As I said before, they are similar yet incompatible beings. The genders of their species are also reversed.”
I remembered hearing that from Baek Rang.
The entire bicorn species is female.
…In that case?
For a unicorn’s species to change means?
“Yes. Unicorns and bicorns cannot coexist.”
So you’re saying even its gender changes.
“If a bicorn pursues the profound principles of monogamy, it is purified into a unicorn. If a unicorn pursues the profound principles of polygamy, it is corrupted into a bicorn.”
I now understood what she meant by ‘cannot coexist.’
Unicorns are male.
Bicorns are female.
To produce offspring, a unicorn and a bicorn must meet.
But the moment they meet, their species changes.
If there is one unicorn and three bicorns, they become four bicorns.
If there is one unicorn and one bicorn, they become two unicorns.
“That is why they are treated as precious. It means they have no way to reproduce.”
…How can a species like that even be created?
Can they even be born in the first place?
It makes no sense.
“Of course, it is said there is a single exception.”
An exception?
“Haramsunae.”
Haramsunae!
…What does that mean?
It sounds like a word that would make a unicorn scream.
Something like, “Haram is not pure love!”
“Haramsunae (廈婪純愛) means ‘pure love coveted in a big house.’”
“Ge-ek…”
“To be coveted in a big house signifies love with many. A unicorn’s pure love signifies a union between one and one.”
I felt like I could hear the unicorn’s screams from here.
“In other words, Haramsunae is a combination of two words that can never coexist.”
Where did the Snake Queen learn all this?
Last time, she didn’t seem to know the details about unicorns, so did she hear it from my Master?
The unicorn did show itself when my Master and the Snake Queen were together, so it’s possible she heard it then.
“The divine unicorn treats it as forbidden knowledge. Just hearing it can cause their minds to collapse. It would be one thing if they simply grew another horn and were corrupted into a bicorn, but I heard that the moment they become entangled in Haramsunae, they cease to be either a unicorn or a bicorn.”
…Haramsunae was that terrifying?
“However, if they overcome the trial and accept it, they can pursue the profound principles of polygamy without betraying the unicorn’s oath.”
I realized why unicorns and bicorns hadn’t gone extinct.
It was because, very rarely, a unicorn who had realized the truth of Haramsunae would appear.
“If I were to venture a guess, it would be a trial on par with becoming a dragon. Because it must suppress the instincts imprinted on its species and accept new knowledge.”
I thought I might be able to recruit the unicorn, but things had gotten complicated.
If I recruited it now, it would just turn into a bicorn.
The creature knew that, which is why it fled.
If he let his guard down, he’d turn into a female.
It’s a shame, but it seems I won’t be able to recruit him for now.
Maybe later, if he overcomes the trial of Haramsunae.
“…Shriirik.”
Swish-Swish, who had been listening quietly to the story, made a sound.
I naturally tried to place her on my foreleg, but she didn’t budge.
“Gek?”
“Shriirik…”
Looking closely, I saw that Swish-Swish had turned into a triangle.
“…Ge-gek!”
I was shocked.
I couldn’t believe Swish-Swish was acting this way toward me.
This was impossible.
…Did I do something wrong?
“…Ppyak.”
Still, Swish-Swish made a cute sound instead of hissing.
I followed her gaze.
“My daughter is jealous.”
Swish-Swish was looking at the Snake Queen’s tail.
To be precise, at the bracelet on the tip of her tail.
“Pyaaaak…”
It was Swish-Swish’s own cute way of protesting, asking why she didn’t get a present.
I’d forgotten.
…Actually, I was going to give it to Swish-Swish right away, but the Snake Queen suddenly pounced on me.
“Gek gek.”
Wait, Swish-Swish.
I’ll put the prettiest ring on you.
“Ppyak!”
Swish-Swish stretched her neck out and stared at me intently.
I considered giving her the jade ring, but instead, I took out a gold ring set with a jewel that seemed to be from the Western Regions.
“Pyaaaak!”
Swish-Swish bobbed her head wildly, seeming to like the item I’d chosen.
“Ge-ge-gek!”
I gently pulled on Swish-Swish’s tail.
“Hieeeek!”
Swish-Swish shrieked in surprise.
I succeeded in putting the ring on, but she immediately curled her body into a ball.
“Heeek…”
…This is the pose she made when we first met.
It’s her defensive stance.
“…My companion.”
The Snake Queen stared at me.
“It would have been better if you had put it on her head.”
“Gek?”
“One does not touch a snake’s tail carelessly.”
Is that so?
I guess even good-natured dogs don’t like their tails being touched.
But putting it on her head seems a bit much.
It feels like once it’s on, it won’t come off.
If it’s on her tail, can’t she take it off easily when she wants to?
“Hiek…”
Swish-Swish stared at her own tail, then hung her head low.
“…I fear that if I do not tell you, you will repeat the same mistake later.”
“Gek.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter to me in my current state, but my daughter, who is in her complete snake form… has allowed you to touch a part of her that is difficult to speak of.”
A part that is difficult to speak of?
Slither.
The Snake Queen crawled over to me.
She put her lips to my ear.
“That part is…”
She whispered softly.
…
…….
“Ge-ge-ge-ge-gek!”
You mean that was on her tail?
Don’t tell me the reason she tied the ribbon on her tail was…!
I feel like I’ve just grasped some knowledge from the abyss.
“Pyaaaak…”
Then the meaning of putting a ring on her tail is also…?
“Uhuhut…”
I didn’t do it on purpose