Chapter : 06
I was becoming increasingly confused, and when I failed to answer, the beastman man’s murderous intent only grew stronger. His black, sharp claws stretched out even farther. Along with the realization that he probably wasn’t a snake beastman but a lizard beastman, I suddenly remembered something from around Chapter 1,040.
That’s right! This is the Beast King’s way of speaking!
The Beast King in Confession at Dawn was a nine-tailed white fox beastman, but his manner of speech was so bizarre that the café had once held an event where people tried to imitate the Beast King’s speech.
At the time, first place went to a user named Taejeongtaese-Beyoncé. When asked about the secret to imitating the Beast King’s speech, they started by giving a whole lecture on how to interpret the Beast King’s character.
Basically, the Beast King was gentle and kind by nature, and whenever he was worried, he tended to cut out everything before and after his words, leaving only the one word he wanted to emphasize most.
If I followed that theory, I could interpret what this man was saying like this:
“So, you mean that if I go any farther, it’ll be dangerous, and if monsters attack me, I won’t get an easy death, so you’re offering to kill me painlessly?”
“……! How did you know?”
The man’s eyes widened.
Still… at least this guy was aware that he spoke like garbage.
The Beast King hadn’t been. That was why, despite being known as the Demon King most hostile toward humans, he had been killed by the protagonist’s group fairly early on. Back then, several people whose favorite character was the Beast King had even left the café.
The Beast King had been a charming character, though. He was also a rare squinty-eyed character.
Those people probably let their guard down even more because of his narrow eyes.
Wasn’t it common knowledge that squinty-eyed characters were the strongest?
“I know someone who’s similar to you.”
“You must have lived a unique life.”
So he knew that he himself was extremely unique.
I liked him.
People who had good self-awareness understood their own place and didn’t recklessly do things that other people disliked.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
“My lunch.”
There was no better way to express a desire to become friends than by sharing food.
I handed the beastman man one of the sandwiches I had brought for lunch. After thanking me, the man took a bite of the sandwich and honestly gave me his assessment.
“It tastes like neither yours nor mine.”
“Really? Then I guess today’s batch was a success.”
“I’ll correct myself. Before swallowing, it tastes like a sewer.”
“Sorry. I made it.”
“I see. Are you untalented at cooking?”
“I’ve never done it before. What do you expect?”
When I honestly admitted that I had no experience, the man nodded as if he understood.
This guy really was a decent person.
Actually, I had already suspected as much when we first met. The fact that he hadn’t tried to act overly friendly for no reason had been a good sign.
So, taking the opportunity, I introduced myself.
“I’m Evan Laef.”
“I am Gert.”
“Gert, did you come from a beastman village?”
“No. I came from the Beast King’s territory.”
“Ohhh, I see.”
He came from a pretty dangerous place.
I’d heard the monsters there were incredibly strong.
Gert nodded at my following remark. After simply agreeing, he finished every last bit of the sandwich and asked me a question.
“Will you come tomorrow as well?”
“Yeah.”
“I shall repay you.”
Gert and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
Then, at the same time the next day, we met again.
Gert pulled a three-tiered lunchbox out of the pack he had brought to carry food for the animals. He opened it in front of me, then shrugged.
“Whoa! You made all of this yourself?”
“That is correct.”
Gert even gave a proud little smirk.
His three-tiered lunchbox was filled with old-fashioned but delicious-looking foods that somehow looked like they belonged on an ancestral memorial table: meat skewers, fried sweet potatoes, pumpkin pancakes, and all sorts of other dishes.
Even the decorations were beautiful.
The food had all the right nutrients—carbs, protein, and fat—and it tasted every bit as amazing as it looked.
I shoveled Gert’s food into my mouth while showering him with praise.
“Wow, you could get married right now!”
“I have a child, so there is no one willing to marry me.”
“You have a child? You must be older than you look.”
“Five hundred…… I stopped counting after that.”
“You really are old.”
“And you?”
“Seventeen.”
“As expected, the human species grows quickly.”
I knew beastmen lived for a long time, but this was the first time I’d ever met one who had lived this long.
Even the elder of the “beastman village friendly toward humans” that had appeared in the book was three hundred years old.
And yet, he had been depicted as an extremely wrinkled old man.
Was Gert different because he was a lizard?
Because he shed his skin?
“Is the secret to your skincare… your shedding?”
“I have reached the same conclusion. When wrinkles appear, they shed naturally.”
“Being a lizard beastman is freaking awesome.”
“What does ‘freaking awesome’ mean?”
Something incredibly convenient, easy, and sweet as honey?
Even though I explained it terribly, Gert seemed to understand the nuance, because he nodded in agreement.
“Being a lizard beastman is freaking awesome.”
“Right. Freaking awesome.”
“Yes. Freaking awesome.”
Gert seemed to like the expression. He flashed a grin and kept repeating it.
He called it “freaking awesome” while eating his lunch. While packing his belongings, he said, “This much is freaking awesome.” And when we parted, he told me to “go home freaking awesomely.”
His usage was a little strange, but I could understand what he meant, so I didn’t care.
However, when I met Gert the next day, he no longer used the expression “freaking awesome.”
Apparently, he had gone home repeatedly saying “freaking awesome, freaking awesome,” and his son had scolded him for behaving without dignity.
