Chapter 36: Lizards Need Warmth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36: Lizards Need Warmth
So this is how good warmth feels.
I quietly savored this warmth I hadn't felt in a long time.
“Huff… huff…”
Tang Soyeong panted, her hands moving frantically.
Cold air.
Hot breath.
It was only natural for steam to form.
Tang Soyeong’s body was drenched in sweat.
The fact that she’d gotten this way for me, and no one else, held a special meaning.
“Haa…”
It was finally done.
Having finally succeeded, Tang Soyeong wiped something from her face.
“Phew… My arm.”
Tang Soyeong massaged the arm she had been moving constantly.
It was bound to hurt, moving it like that.
“I-I’ve never made a fire before in my life.”
The campfire flickered pleasantly.
The soot on Soyeong’s face showed just how hard she had worked to start the fire.
She had used spiderwebs and branches to make it.
It’s certainly convenient having a human around.
I’d tried to make a fire a few times myself. Besides raising my body temperature, the effects of fire in the wild were immense. If I could just handle fire, even higher-level enemies wouldn't dare approach carelessly.
But it was an impossible task with a lizard’s hands.
The branches would break if I applied even a little too much force, and the spiderwebs would snap if my claws touched them.
Lying on my stomach watching the campfire, I felt a sense of contentment.
It made me feel pleasantly lazy.
“Kyoong…”
The spiders had also climbed onto my back and were in the same position as me.
Grrrrumble.
A small thunderclap sounded.
Startled, I shot up.
Was it an enemy attack?
“U-um…”
What was that? I definitely heard a loud noise.
Why was there nothing here?
Only Tang Soyeong’s face was bright red.
Grrrrumble.
I finally realized.
The thunder-like sound wasn’t an enemy attack, but the sound coming from Tang Soyeong’s stomach.
She’s at a sensitive age, so I should just ignore it.
If I point it out, she’ll probably cry again.
“Th-there’s a strange sound…”
GRRRRUMBLE!
Tang Soyeong looked like she was about to cry.
I covered the spiders’ eyes, and I closed my own.
We’re being considerate of you.
The message should have gotten across.
“Please just cover my ears instead…”
Ah, would that be better?
Soyeong’s face was as red as a beet.
I mean, it happens to people.
“Gek gek.”
I don’t mind.
“I-it’s because I haven’t eaten anything today…”
I understand.
That kind of sound can happen when you’re hungry.
“Gek gek!”
“A-are you laughing? Eek! It’s because I used up so much energy making the fire!”
My ‘gek gek’ was meant to be comforting, but I guess she doesn’t have the ability to understand lizard-speak.
“Eek… I’m sorry, but I’ll eat first. I brought a few Grain-Free Pills… Huh?”
Her ‘huh?’ was one of desperation, realizing the pills she’d brought were gone, leaving her hungry and mortified.
“M-my Grain-Free Pills! My pills! I’m sure I packed them!”
She should’ve kept a better eye on them.
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.
I’d have to listen to that thunder all night.
Since we had a fire anyway, I decided to feed the little ones a late-night snack and try something I’d been wanting to do.
With my long tail, I brought over the dried meat that was hanging on a branch.
It was turtle and toad meat.
Eating it raw wasn’t bad, but with a fire right here, there was no reason not to grill it.
And I figured Tang Soyeong would have a hard time if I offered her raw meat.
“Grrr…”
I’ll give you the meat, so go ahead and cook it.
Just skewer it on a branch and put it over the fire.
Tang Soyeong stared blankly at the meat I offered her.
Her eyes widened slightly, and her mouth fell open.
“H-Hero Go…?”
She called out the name that wasn’t my name over and over, as if in disbelief.
“Th-th-th-the G-Golden Frog? And the Golden Turtle?”
Huh?
Golden Frog and Golden Turtle?
She seemed to be mistaken about something.
There’s no way something that precious would be here.
They looked pretty unique, so I guess that’s why she was confused, but these creatures couldn’t be called spirit beasts.
They didn’t even have an inner core.
Besides, whenever I eat an elixir, the status window tells me right away. Just like when I ate the Gongcheongseokyu.
“N-no. It doesn’t have a golden sheen, so not yet… B-but still, the way it looks is so… Eek!”
Tang Soyeong committed the bizarre act of trying to eat the meat I gave her raw.
Of course, she was stopped by a jet kick from Tus and Pus.
Thwack!
“Ouch… No wonder those little spiders can handle internal energy…”
Tang Soyeong still couldn’t shake her suspicions.
It might not be elixir-grade, but it did seem to be meat that was good for the body.
After all, Tus and Pus grew rapidly after eating this meat.
It must be rich in nutrients.
But no matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t a Golden Turtle or a Golden Frog.
I’m not an idiot. How could I not recognize something so precious?
And there’s no way those spirit beasts, said to appear only once every ten thousand years, would be here.
“…Is it really okay for me to eat this?”
Didn’t she just try to eat it raw a moment ago?
“Gek gek.”
I gave a slight nod.
It was a relief I could communicate this much.
“As expected of you, Hero…”
I gave her dried persimmons, so why wouldn’t I give her meat?
I could catch this kind of meat anytime.
The leader might be a different story, but the smaller ones were easy to catch.
…Wait, does that mean the bigger ones could be spirit beasts like the Golden Turtle or Golden Frog?
Nah, no way.
Still, I should probably check it out sometime.
They were too fast for me to catch, but I’d get one eventually.
Tang Soyeong skewered the well-prepared meat on a branch and placed it over the campfire.
The sizzling sound of the meat cooking was pleasant to the ear.
Drip.
Geez, I was drooling like a slob.
“I-I’ll cook it quickly!”
Who’s going to snatch it from you?
Take your time.
It’s not like rushing will make it cook any faster.
Thanks to Tang Soyeong’s efforts, the meat was cooked to a golden brown.
Now it was time to distribute it.
First, Tus and Pus.
They were still small, and eating too much for a late-night snack wasn’t good for them, so one piece each.
“Keng!”
Tang Soyeong seemed very interested in the toad meat, so I decided to give her the whole thing.
“To think the day would come when I’d eat a Golden Frog, not just study it…”
I’m telling you, it’s not a Golden Frog.
That’s a Beelzebufo.
A demon toad.
I ate what was left.
The plump, grilled turtle.
I took a sniff first, then popped it into my mouth.
Crunch.
Yeah, this was the taste.
Honestly, my palate was becoming more lizard-like, so I couldn’t say it was exceptionally more delicious than raw meat. However, the satisfaction from the warmth of the cooked meat was extraordinary.
It felt like my insides were warming up.
The texture, tender enough to tear along the grain after being cooked for a long time.
It was a shame it wasn’t freshly hunted, but it was still delicious enough to be called a gourmet meal.
Tang Soyeong was also enjoying the grilled toad.
After grilling it thoroughly to burn off all the poison, she was crunching on it, skin and all.
“Eheheh… Golden Frog… Golden Frog…”
Her muttering about not leaving a single scrap was a little scary, but not being wasteful is a good thing.
“I can’t let this fortuitous encounter go to waste…”
No, I’m telling you, this isn’t a fortuitous encounter.
Look over there. There’s another one hopping around.
Well, people believe what they want to believe.
And so, our happy late-night snack time came to an end.
Tus and Pus lay down, patting their plump bellies.
Lying down right after eating isn’t good for you, but I can’t apply the same standards to spiders.
“Hero Gomodo.”
Tang Soyeong approached me, glancing cautiously at Tus and Pus.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have eaten such a precious meal.”
For once, she wasn’t stuttering.
Now she sounded a bit like a young lady from a wealthy family.
“Actually, I’m someone who manages spirit beasts like you, Hero Gomodo. …Heek! T-that’s not to say I handle you, Hero… I mean, spirit beasts far inferior to you…”
I was a fool to expect anything.
“Grrr…”
So what is it you want to say?
“I-if it’s not too much trouble, may I place my hands on your body, Hero…?”
“Gek?”
I tilted my head.
It meant, ‘Why?’
“I-I know it’s presumptuous, but the energies in your body feel very unfamiliar… I mean, should I say they’re conflicting with each other? O-one of the things I often do is resolve situations like that…”
Right.
So, to put it simply, you’re an animal trainer.
“Grrrrr.”
“Heek! I-I’m sorry! If I offended you, I apologize…”
No, I wasn’t particularly offended.
I was also a bit curious about what was inside me.
There was also what Baek Yeon-yeong had told me.
And I was curious if the inner cores I’d eaten so far had been properly digested.
I wrapped my tail around Tang Soyeong’s waist.
“Kyaaaaak!”
A gentle tug and she was pulled helplessly toward me.
“H-huff… C-can I take this to mean you’ve given me permission?”
“Gek.”
I nodded.
“Then… please stay still…”
Tang Soyeong straightened her posture and placed both hands on my back.
“You mustn’t move.”
Vwoom.
A warm energy spread out from her hands.
“…I can see a lot of things. First, there isn’t just one or two spirit beast inner cores, and none of them are ordinary. Especially the one from that beast with the fierce energy. And this one, filled with warm energy… Huh? This is a type I’ve never seen before.”
Is she really doing this right?
The one with the fierce energy was probably the caiman, and the warm energy… was that from what Nephila fed me?
“Deeper inside… I had a feeling, but there really is Gongcheongseokyu. …Ack. Cordyceps? Was Cordyceps always this big?”
So Cordyceps is treated as an elixir, too.
I just thought it was a mushroom.
Nothing seemed to improve after I ate it.
“This is strange. There are many energies inside, but they aren’t merging. It would be more accurate to say they’re circling on the surface instead of being absorbed into your dantian. At this rate, your body could explode… No, it should have already exploded by now.”
What?
Hey, why are you telling me this now!
“If there’s too much internal energy that can’t be absorbed, the body should reject it… How could you take in elixirs in this state… Ah!”
Tang Soyeong cried out as if she’d discovered something.
“The honey of the Okbong! Yes. This was here. As expected of Hero Go. You suppressed the energies of the elixirs with Okbong honey. It’s something an ordinary person like me could never even imagine.”
Tang Soyeong said, full of admiration.
What’s Okbong honey?
I’ve never eaten anything like that.
Anyway, you’re saying I’m fine for now, right?
I don’t have to worry about my body exploding, right?
“There’s still more. …I keep seeing something. It doesn’t seem related to your dantian, but since I can see it, I’ll take a quick look. It’s firm and resolute. Should I call it Hero Go’s mission? Or your reason for living in this world? I’m getting a little excited.”
Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?
“Huff… What is this!”
Tang Soyeong took a sharp breath.
What in the world did she see to react like that?
“A-a lizard with long claws is wearing strange, tight-fitting clothes and sitting by the water… a-a person? Why is a person showing up here… Kyaaak! W-w-what is this bizarre…”
You weren’t supposed to see that.
“A giant lizard with a crest on its back is holding a broom… wearing long, flowing clothes with an exquisite harmony of black and white. M-master…? Fawning over a human… Kyaaaaaak!”
It’s a misunderstanding.
This is all a misunderstanding.