Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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"Eek!"
-Ugh!
What the hell is this situation?
I rolled my eyes as I watched the fierce battle unfolding right in front of me.
That Silpi and Cheong, who usually took such good care of each other, were glaring at one another with their eyes wide open.
"Why don't you just give up, Silpi?"
-Why don't you yield to me, Cheong?
Honestly, from my perspective—watching them fight in real time and knowing the full context—the reason for their squabble seemed so trivial that I wondered why they even bothered.
"El, stay out of it!"
-Yeah! El, be quiet!
Their fight was over who gets to eat the last Amrita.
Well, calling it the "last" one was misleading anyway.
We just had to step out of the cave—or hell, even just turn our heads—and there were clusters of Amrita fruits hanging right there.
'We could just go pick more.'
Thud.
Whoosh.
-My dear Cheong. Think about all the times I've yielded to you. Can't you let me have this one?
"You've yielded to me so far, so why not just yield again?"
-Did you lose your conscience when you became human?
They were even unleashing their powers to claim the Amrita.
Sensing the immense steel (metal) energy and wind energy filling the cave, I decided to quickly get out of there before getting caught in the crossfire.
Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?
Swish. Swish.
No way.
They're the weird ones.
To confirm I was the normal one, I quickly posted on the gallery.
Judging by the real-time comments rolling in, everyone else seemed to think the same as me.
Yeah, I was normal.
Two out of the three were the weird ones, so I'd momentarily doubted myself for nothing. I was the fool.
'Silpi wasn't like this before.'
Normally, Silpi would yield to Cheong—that was the usual dynamic at home.
Probably because Silpi treated the non-spirit Cheong, with whom proper communication was difficult, like a little sibling.
But after the Wind Spirit King visited, things had gotten a bit awkward.
Yeah, Silpi had stopped showing consideration to Cheong.
Unlike before, when she saw Cheong as beneath her or a weakling deserving pity, now Cheong was an equal powerhouse standing shoulder to shoulder with her.
'Silpi's behavior is justified, sure.'
But their fights were becoming more frequent, making things uncomfortable for me, the one living with them.
Drip. Drip.
I thought as I gazed at the Amrita I'd picked undamaged with wind magic.
This amount should make even them give up the fight.
Stepping in voluntarily to mediate their quarrel, I fixed the Amrita in place with wind and returned home.
-Eek!
"Grrr!"
Or they could just split it in half.
Looking at them—insisting on eating a whole one solo to feel satisfied—I showed them the freshly harvested Amrita and spoke.
"El's the best!"
-No need to go out now!
Clap.
At my words, they high-fived each other like they'd been waiting.
I stared blankly for a moment, thinking to myself.
'No way they started fighting just to avoid picking Amrita themselves?'
To make me do it?
I should think there's no way, but they've dragged me into resolving their fights so often lately that suspicion sprouts anyway.
No, really—if they plotted this to make me move by using their heads...
"Hehe! Let's eat together, El!"
-Wow! These fruits are perfectly ripe and delicious!
Yeah, if me moving a bit makes them grin like that, it's good enough.
It might be a naive thought, but seeing them laugh and chatter at each other right there, anyone would think the same.
But if an intruder suddenly appears during such peaceful times, the mood sinks naturally.
I slipped outside the cave so Silpi and Cheong wouldn't hear and whispered quietly.
Then, the bushes behind me rustled faintly, and a gray-furred wolf emerged from within...
The wolf, about to emerge from the bushes, hid again and spoke softly enough for only me to hear.
But my expression didn't brighten; if anything, my face hardened more as I replied.
I could guess what this guy meant by "gratitude."
Probably referring to how I'd protected their territory with Ceres's power.
Last time, it was just playtime fodder, but now it felt at least twice as strong—enough to maybe even scratch my scales with its bigger build.
As expected, it wouldn't ignore my warning just for a simple thank-you.
Sensing the presence still lurking beyond the bushes, I let out a small sigh and asked.
I hadn't met anyone here besides Cheong, Silpi, and Ceres anyway.
Lately, Ceres had been busy with something, and going there felt like interrupting, so I'd hesitated and met her less often.
Hmm. A ghost shrouded in white cloth.
One did come to mind, but it was surprising it still existed in this era.
Bingo. It's the one I thought.
'Why is a wraith here already?'
Wraiths—monsters that typically haunted graveyards or haunted mansions.
Immune to physical attacks, so parties needed mages, magic damage conversion, or holy power to hunt them.
With poor rewards, almost no one bothered. So why here?
'Wraiths spawn rarely from masses of human grudges in places where souls gather.'
I'd never seen humans here, which bothered me.
I figured they existed somewhere far off, forming tribes, since beasts knew of them.
'A wraith here means a mass human death nearby?'
If so, I needed to know.
Where humans were.
Grudge masses might not yield solid info, but seeing it first couldn't hurt.
'Leave Cheong and Silpi be...'
And so, after getting wraith details from the wolf spirit, I decided to sneak out at night without them knowing.