Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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“Hehe. Krung.”
Silpi had become an intermediate spirit, and Cheong had taken on a human form... in other words, she'd become a spiritual being?
Something must have happened while I was gone for them to undergo such dramatic changes.
-Oh, well, you see...
With Cheong still clinging to my body and rubbing her face against mine, I first demanded an explanation from Silpi. She gave me a somewhat awkward look as she replied.
-Right after you left, this weird guy showed up here?
-Yeah. It was this dark, shadowy figure completely shrouded in black.
At those words, one person immediately came to mind.
The strange entity that had protected me during my fight with the Dragon King.
'Did that guy come here?'
-And then it suddenly overpowered us. Cheong and I blacked out right there. When we woke up, our bodies had grown like this.
-On the contrary, I have so much power it's a problem. Before you got back, I nearly collapsed the cave by accident. That's why I was staying still.
Ah, so that's why they stayed put while I entered the cave.
It was natural for control over one's power to become difficult after suddenly becoming an intermediate spirit.
Still, watching her now carefully manipulate the wind, it seemed she'd adapt quickly.
-Exactly. I've become an intermediate wind spirit, and Cheong became a spiritual being, allowing her to transform into this human form.
Sways.
Well, that's how it looks.
Aside from the twitching tiger ears and swishing tail, she was perfectly human—no issues there.
'But are those the only ears?'
It was the usual question when someone had animal ears like that.
Did she have human ears too? Or not?
I subtly flicked my tail to gently brush aside the hair covering her ears.
'...She does.'
I nodded quietly at the human ears revealed there.
I wondered if those ears were just for show or if they actually functioned to hear sounds like real ears, but there were more pressing matters right now.
Squeeze.
Cheong's grip on me, which had been oddly tight since earlier, was getting even stronger.
Was Cheong struggling with power control like Silpi?
-Yeah, Cheong. Let go of El for now.
“Tch.”
I was finally released from Cheong's pressure.
-Oh, more importantly, El. I felt Ceres's power earlier—what happened?
“Yeah! It was all creepy and stuff!”
And so I shared everything with them: what happened with Ceres, the guys who came at me, what they wanted, Ceres's growth, and her claiming this area as her territory.
-Whoa. This situation is pretty serious.
Having heard the full explanation, Silpi broke out in a cold sweat, immediately grasping how bad things were.
-I'll contact the Spirit King for now. This is big enough that the kings of each attribute should step in. We might get some info related to it.
An issue big enough for the Spirit Kings to get involved.
It was larger in scale than I'd thought.
Resolving to raise my minimum strength threshold even higher, I glanced over at Cheong.
“Aaaah. Uuuuuh. Eeeeh.”
She was still awkward with human speech, continuously moving her mouth and making sounds.
It looked utterly adorable on the surface, but anyone sensing the power emanating from her wouldn't find it funny at all.
'I wondered how she transformed into a human faster than me.'
Now I got it.
Upon becoming a spiritual being, her existing power had ballooned several times over, leaving her with excess strength.
And Cheong had already possessed the talent to use Lion's Roar even before this.
With that talent plus an immense influx of power, she'd naturally succeeded in transforming into a human form—something even I hadn't fully mastered yet.
'So she's better at controlling power than me.'
In fights, she might seem to expend more energy than me, but in reality, even those actions were done with extreme efficiency.
-By the way, is it okay to leave Ceres alone like that? Don't you need to stay by her side?
“Right now?! Ah, nooo!”
She'd come rushing here at first out of worry that something bad had happened to us, but the outcome was positive overall.
So it should be fine to return to Ceres right away, worry-free.
Squeeze.
“No way. Stay with us.”
The problem was Cheong grabbing my tail to stop me from leaving.
Squeeze. Tug.
'Her already brutishly strong power as a spiritual being has gotten even stronger.'
I couldn't budge at all.
What to do?
Her puffed-up cheeks, filled with air, signaled that soothing her wouldn't be easy.
'In times like this, I wish Silpi would side with me.'
The issue was Silpi was busy controlling her own power and couldn't intervene.
“We were in danger too. You weren't here, so me and Silpi got taken out just like that.”
-She's not wrong. We couldn't even use our power properly back then.
No, Silpi, why are you siding with Cheong?
And that mysterious entity they faced.
Honestly, even if I'd been there, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
Even though its actions seemed pretty insane, that guy had forced the Dragon King to retreat head-on.
“...No.”
“'Cause I don't like it.”
Just why didn't she like it?
Honestly, I'd been curious for a while.
Silpi just didn't want to go outside, but Cheong disliked Ceres for no apparent reason.
“Yeah. Don't like her.”
Back then, I could only read her emotions toward Ceres, so I'd let it slide, but now that we could talk, I intended to get the exact reason.
Cheong quietly closed her mouth at my words.
She glanced at me subtly, seemingly debating whether to say it or not.
“You won't get mad if I tell you?”
-With his current strength, El might actually be the one in danger...
Why try to ruin the mood all of a sudden?
“Ever since that tree showed up and you left us.”
“Before, you'd spend all day eating with us, playing, and sleeping. But lately, you haven't.”
I had nothing to say to that.
In truth, taking care of Ceres had reduced the time I spent with them.
-It is kinda harsh. Even I feel a bit neglected.
And now Silpi, who usually didn't complain, was backing her up.
Of course, she was backing Cheong, not me—and I was the target of that support fire.
Thud.
With Silpi's words hitting me deep in the chest, Cheong ground her teeth and spoke with a chilling glare.
“I wanted to smash it to pieces.”
“But you pay attention to it, and it helped me before, so I've held back until now.”
So she did remember how Ceres had helped her before.
That said, the way she ground her teeth just now felt way too sincere—it even gave me chills.
Could Cheong and Ceres really never get along?
“El.”
“You said that thing can talk now too, right?”
Unlike Cheong, Ceres actually liked her, which made this a regrettable outcome.
If I hadn't heard the reason from Cheong, I might have arranged a few meetings between them, but seeing how intensely she disliked Ceres, I couldn't bring myself to suggest it anymore.
Step.
“Then this time. No, we need to settle things for good.”
“Don't stop me. This is between me and that tree. We need to decide who's the owner.”
-Whoa. I wanna come too.
Owner? Decide what?
Somehow, Cheong's ominous words prompted even Silpi—who hated going outside—to eagerly want to join. It must be one heck of a spectacle.
That meant the current situation was that serious.
But... could I even stop Cheong when she looked so determined?
“...Grind. Got it.”
In the end, realizing I couldn't stop her, I at least asked her not to hurt Ceres—and Cheong readily agreed.
Gulp.
With a troubled heart, I followed after Cheong as she strode ahead confidently.
Along with my worried feelings, we arrived in front of Ceres.
-Daddy and Mommy!
“Approved.”
...What?