Chapter 90: Heroic Lust
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90: Heroic Lust
Honhwi dragged his somewhat weary body back to his territory.
Since the King of Birds had decided to retreat, there was no way for him to give chase.
Besides, Honhwi’s goal hadn’t been to kill him in the first place.
Seeing the Human-faced Bird become visibly flustered and cough up blood midway through confirmed his suspicions: the little one must have defeated its subordinate.
The small creatures in his territory would be safe now.
Still, he needed to see for himself.
His original purpose had been to bring the medicinal herb that could undo the miniaturization, but the fact that the bird’s subordinate was defeated meant the miniaturization had already been undone.
No matter how much the little one mimicked a few of his martial arts techniques by sight, it couldn’t overcome such a massive difference in size.
It was more plausible to assume it had undone the miniaturization on its own and defeated the enemy with its inherent strength.
As he headed toward his territory in his small form, Honhwi thought of the Snake Queen.
The Snake Queen he remembered was a troublemaker.
He had worried if she would ever marry properly, but it seemed she had snagged quite a decent son-in-law.
…Except for the fact that he was so young.
Considering his age, he was a more suitable match for her adopted daughter, not the Snake Queen herself.
No, in fact, even the Snake Princess was old compared to that lizard.
That’s how young the lizard was.
Still, the Snake Queen knew what was proper.
She would surely not touch the lizard until he had at least reached maturity.
Even as he thought this, a part of Honhwi felt uneasy.
What if, one day, that lizard came to him, gek-gekking with a brood of baby snakes in tow?
Shaking his head, Honhwi quickened his pace.
His body was tired, but his steps felt strangely light.
Putting aside issues like age, the cold Snake Queen had found a good companion.
It was a cause for celebration.
He would hurry back, praise the lizard for his achievement, and then pass down his techniques to his son-in-law.
The bird’s movements were unsettling.
Given that it had prioritized the Snake Queen’s companion over killing him, it wouldn’t give up after just one failure.
He had to pass on his techniques and make the lizard stronger.
So he thought.
That is, until he arrived at his territory.
“Gekek.”
“Gekekek.”
“Kieeng.”
The small lizards were all perfectly fine.
Not a single scratch on them.
The territory wasn’t heavily damaged either.
At most, a few surrounding trees had been knocked over.
Looking at this alone, it was a wonderful sight.
They had defended the area better than he had expected.
But that was that. Elsewhere, a shocking scene was unfolding.
“Keeng.”
“Gekgek!”
The lizards were dancing.
That much was understandable.
Having repelled an attacker, a celebratory mood was only natural.
The problem was the dark creature in the center of the dancing lizards.
It was lying there, casually frolicking with the other lizards.
Sparks flew from Honhwi’s eyes.
“Keeeeek!”
Look at those lizards.
Weren’t they clinging to the Snake Queen’s companion, their tails held stiff and straight?
And the large lizard, despite seeing this scandalous display, did nothing to stop it, only gek-gekking along.
He might be handsome, but this was not right.
Of course, there was the saying, “Heroes love beauty.”
But there was a time and a place for everything.
The necklace around its neck signified that it was the Snake Queen’s companion.
And yet, it was playing around with other lizards like this.
To engage in such acts while leaving the pure and devoted Snake Queen behind.
And this from a young lizard not even three months old.
“Keeeeeeeng!”
Before passing down any techniques, it was more important to engrave the meaning of propriety into him.
Honhwi picked up a fallen branch from the ground.
To commit such a shameless act already.
Next he’ll be saying he’s already seduced the Snake Princess, has a sister who gave herself to him before the Snake Queen, and even a childhood friend he grew up with whom he can entrust his life to.
Honhwi paused for a moment.
Why was that example so vivid?
He glared at the dark blue lizard scratching its belly.
…Could it be?
He shook his head.
No.
Surely it wouldn’t have committed such acts while wearing the guise of a lizard.
His nerves were probably just on edge from the battle.
There was no way a lizard less than three months old could have behaved like such a womanizer.
It was a more rational conclusion that it had seduced humans while in its lizard body.
Even so, a sense of unease crept into Honhwi’s mind.
His instincts, as an old and wise Little Dragon, were sometimes frighteningly accurate.
Praying fervently that it was just a baseless delusion, he swung the stick to teach the lizard the meaning of chastity.
*
Hey, what’s with this old man?
“Keeek!”
He’d picked up a long stick from somewhere and started beating me with it.
I thought, how much could it hurt, coming from that tiny body?
He wasn’t even using my own strength against me; he was just swinging the stick wildly.
I was a lizard with Dragon Scales, after all. There was no way a mere tree branch could cause me any pain.
But it hurt.
What the hell?
I’m a lizard with Dragon Scales.
It felt like the same pain I’d felt when Swish-Swish bit me.
“Keek!”
“Gekekek!”
Wait.
He hit my bone.
“Geeek!”
After smacking me for a good while, huffing and puffing, the old Compy started yelling at the lizards around me too.
“Keeeeek!”
Why was he so angry?
Let’s deduce this with my brilliant lizard brain.
The words of the Little Dragon, relayed by the status window.
I cannot give you my daughter.
Did I somehow mess with the old man’s daughter without realizing it?
This is unfair.
All I did was watch the other lizards dance.
I did feel the cool body heat of the lizards snuggling up against me, but I swear I had no such intentions.
If you think about it, it’s similar to penguins huddling.
Since the weather is hot, we were just cooling our body temperatures with our cool bodies.
My body was heated up from the battle, anyway.
Swoooosh.
…Yeah, that excuse isn’t going to fly.
Not when it’s raining like this.
Could the old man’s daughter really be among these lizards?
No matter how I thought about it, that didn’t seem right.
I checked the status windows of the lizards here one by one.
But I didn’t see any lizard that seemed like it could be the old Compy’s daughter.
It was just a gathering of slightly higher-leveled lizards.
Then why on earth did he mention his daughter?
There was only one possibility.
The Snake Queen was the old man’s daughter.
If I looked at it that way, everything made sense.
Why he tried to push me into a puddle the first time we met.
Why his eyes were blazing as he beat me for playing with the other lizards.
These were all perfectly understandable reactions if he thought of me as his son-in-law.
…Though we were only partners on paper, there was no way the old man would know that.
Tsk, but he gave birth to a Basilisk at that size?
Who in the world was the old man’s wife?
No, wait. If he undid his miniaturization, the old man would become incredibly large, so size probably wasn’t an issue.
But she couldn’t be his biological daughter.
It’s obvious, but a dinosaur can’t give birth to a snake.
Of course, it might be different for a spirit beast.
Since I don’t know much about them, it wouldn’t be strange no matter what they gave birth to.
But the old man wasn’t a spirit beast.
Sure, he had faith and divine power, but his species was definitely a Compy.
A very strong Compy, but not a spirit beast.
In other words, the Snake Queen was likely his adopted daughter.
…By the way, why didn’t the Snake Queen tell me any of this?
If she had, I would have acted differently.
Now I’ve become the crazy lizard who pushed his father-in-law into a mud puddle out of the blue.
The Little Dragon’s merciless branch assault finally came to an end.
“Keek…”
Judging by his still-sharp face, it seemed his anger hadn’t subsided.
Swish-Swish’s face gets sharp when she’s angry, too. She must have learned it from her grandfather.
Poke.
The old Compy nudged my body once.
It seemed he was trying to communicate by moving his hands.
The Compy did a strange dance, pointing alternately at me and himself.
That gesture probably meant I should shrink back down.
Shrink?
Why should I?
Who knows what would happen?
You want me to shrink down so you can beat me up and throw me in the lake, right?
Like in a noir comic!
…I was about to refuse, but then I reconsidered.
Somehow, I got the feeling that if I didn’t miniaturize, the old man would gigantify himself.
A picture formed in my mind of him grabbing me with one hand and throwing me into the distance.
Right. Let’s just do as he says for now.
Surely he wouldn’t ask me to miniaturize just to beat me more easily, right?
What kind of father-in-law in the world would do that to his son-in-law?
…Of course, if it were a soap opera situation where his granddaughter had fallen for said son-in-law, he’d probably show up with a shotgun, but since I haven’t been caught yet, it should be fine.
Stubbornly resisting might just make things worse.
If Swish-Swish were to show up here and hug me, I’d be turned into a lizard kebab on the spot.
If I’m going to do it, I should do it quickly.
I steeled myself and mimicked the strange dance.
Following the old man’s demands was the best course of action right now.
[Using 「Reverse Scale LV1」.]
[Temporarily acquiring 「Miniaturization LV1」.]
It wouldn’t be bad to raise my proficiency in Miniaturization, either.
My body gradually shrank.
I became the size of a Green Basilisk, slightly larger than a Green Gecko.
“Gekekek!”
“Keek…”
The old Compy glared at me, his expression still showing his displeasure.
Hey, can you show me those dazed eyes from when we first met?
You’re scaring me.
With the stick slung over his shoulder, the Compy walked toward the cave I had seen when we first met.
He wanted me to follow, I presumed.
Was he planning to beat me up in that cave?
No, that couldn’t be it.
Even if he didn’t like me, I was the Snake Queen’s legitimate companion.
Besides, I had saved the Little Dragon’s followers from the attack.
The old Compy would distinguish between public and private matters.
Since he had faith, he wouldn’t be swayed by personal feelings.
And I was a pretty useful lizard, if I did say so myself.
I followed the old Compy into the cave.
It was certainly a small cave.
The smallest I had ever seen.
No, it was so small it could almost be called a crevice.
“Keek.”
The Compy pointed at the cave wall.
To be precise, at a large, rectangular stone.
And at the drawings and sword marks carved upon it.
It was an all-too-familiar sight.
I knew what it was in an instant.
The verses recorded on the wall.
It was the mark of the Heavenly Demon.