DRSW 10

Chapter : 10

The fox barked at Gerd as if arguing with him about something, then whined at me as though apologizing. Hmm… this was interesting. Just like with Titi, I somehow felt like I could roughly understand what it was trying to say. Was it because of my Taming skill? The skill description did say it worked well on animals.

Judging by how naturally Gerd seemed to converse with the fox, he probably had a skill superior to Taming. I wondered if even Cat Daddy could learn to talk to animals after doing it for about five hundred years.

“It’s okay.”

“Woof?”

“See? Evan is understanding.”

“She’s only touching your body.”

“That’s right. She’s only touching my body.”

“Wooooof!”

Compared to when he had first seen me, my stamina had improved and I had gotten faster, so naturally he would be curious. He probably wondered whether I had trained my body or possessed some kind of related skill.

“You haven’t built muscle. Is it a skill?”

“Yeah.”

“You were born to be a miner. I’m impressed.”

“I’ve been fishing lately, too.”

“I see.”

I nodded, and Gerd nodded as well, while the fox’s pupils shook as though an earthquake had struck them.

“But there are only a few mana stones further ahead. If you go any deeper, you won’t be able to handle it.”

“It’s okay. I’m only mining today. I won’t be coming back anymore.”

“…What?”

This time, not only the fox’s but also Gerd’s pupils trembled violently. The man muttered, “I see,” in a dejected tone, then said he should go feed the kids and trudged away.

“Woof! Bark bark! Bark!”

The fox bit onto the hem of Gerd’s pants and tugged at it while barking something at him. Apparently, there was some profound meaning behind those cries, because Gerd suddenly looked as though he had attained enlightenment before asking me,

“Then where should I go if I want to see you?”

“Oh, you want to come visit?”

“That is correct.”

I suppose it would be disappointing if we had gotten fairly close but couldn’t see each other anymore simply because there was no reason for him to mine mana stones. I took a map out of my basket and pointed to an isolated area just west of the city of Ilam.

“There’s a big hazelnut tree here, and there are two houses. The one with the green roof is my house.”

“Understood. I shall formally visit you soon.”

“Sure. My mom makes really good borscht, so you have to eat before you leave.”

I couldn’t cook for shit, but my mom was seriously amazing at it. After I spent quite a while bragging about my mother, Gerd said he was looking forward to it and arranged to visit three days later.

I agreed, then informed Mom that a friend would be coming over in three days.

Mom was thrilled, saying it was the first time I had ever brought a friend home.

◇ ◆ ◇

Hubert, the white fox beastman who was serving as the acting Beast King in the Beast King’s Tower, had been incredibly busy these past few days.

He had been so absurdly busy that when adventurers invaded the Beast King’s Tower, he didn’t even have time to put on his usual “pretending to be Dad” act. He simply slaughtered them as quickly as possible and threw them outside the door.

His father was interested in a human woman.

This was an earth-shattering event, something that would make the executives of the Beast King’s Tower scream in astonishment. It was also the first such event in Hubert’s 120 years as acting Beast King.

Of course, Hubert had only lived for 120 years, so he didn’t know what had happened before that. But considering his father’s five-hundred-year life, this was probably the first time in his entire life as well.

Anyway, it was already earth-shattering enough that a woman had come up in his father’s conversation. But this particular female creature was unbelievably strange.

The country woman with her hair braided into two pigtails had marched straight into the Beast King’s territory and mined mana stones. Even when a monster cat threatened her nearby, even when a tiger threatened her, and even when a three-headed monster snake hissed while spraying venom, she completely ignored them all and simply kept clanking away at the mana stones.

Hubert’s father was normally so kind and gentle that he showed affection even toward low-ranking monsters. To borrow the Dragon King’s words, there was no bigger pushover in the world.

Weak monsters often couldn’t attack humans and therefore went hungry, so his father would frequently bring them food himself.

Apparently, while he was out feeding them, he had met a woman named Evan.

She hadn’t been intimidated in the slightest even after seeing the dignified presence of the Beast King. After watching her for several days, they had introduced themselves to each other and even shared lunch.

But the most astonishing thing of all was that she could apparently understand what Gerd was saying.

It was such an incredible event that even Hubert’s normally narrowed eyes opened wide.

How difficult was it to understand his father, who constantly left out half the words when he spoke?

For about ten years after Hubert was born, he had genuinely believed his father was angry every single day because Gerd was so fucking terrible at expressing himself.

So at first, Hubert didn’t believe it.

He wondered whether his father had once again misinterpreted the actions of some trembling village girl. Surely this woman named Evan would stop dealing with his father once she realized she valued her life.

And indeed, his father had been happily going out to feed the kids while simultaneously getting to see the woman. But then, after several days, he became depressed because Evan had stopped coming to mine mana stones.

Had Evan found another vein? Since she was a miner, perhaps she had. Maybe he should have told her about a place where she could obtain higher-quality mana stones.

Watching his father wander around the top of the tower all day and sigh, Hubert broke out in a cold sweat.

His father looked exactly like a man suffering from lovesickness.

At this point, as unfortunate as it was for the woman who had run away, they had no choice but to capture her and bring her to the Beast King’s Tower.

After all, his father had never even held the hand of a member of the opposite sex in five hundred years.

This might be his first—and last—chance.

First, they would bring her here. Then they would somehow make her grow attached to his father.

There was no other option.

And so the white fox beastman went on a barking outing with his father to capture a woman named Evan.

Although they had a purpose for leaving the tower, Hubert was excited because it had been a long time since he had gone out with his father.

He walked hand in hand with his father, gently wagging his tail, until he sensed someone nearby. In an instant, he transformed into his animal form and watched the situation.

Just as his father had said, Evan really was a strange woman.

She was talking to his father as an equal without a shred of fear, and her physical abilities and oppressive presence were so extraordinary that she couldn’t possibly be considered an ordinary human.

The energy radiating from her body was downright eerie.

His instincts as a beast told him everything he needed to know.

This woman clearly possessed combat power equivalent to someone with around three Ultra-Rare Skills.

There was also a subtle aura of magic around her. She seemed to already be a mage, or at the very least a budding one.

She was seventeen?

Yeah, right. Don’t fucking lie to me.

Even a battle-hardened veteran wouldn’t give off such a terrifying aura.

No wonder she had the nerve to keep mining mana stones while predators prowled around her and venomous snakes aimed for her throat.

Hubert had a premonition.

His father’s eyes had been accurate.

As expected, his father was someone he could only respect.

This woman named Evan was exactly the kind of person qualified to become the mother of millions of monsters.

She was already this powerful at seventeen. Just how strong would she become once she matured?

The white fox beastman with his long, slitted eyes simply couldn’t contain his laughter.

I’m finally going to have a mother.

How many decades had it been since the Dragon King had mocked and humiliated him, asking whether his father was impotent?

And yet, when Evan declared that she wouldn’t come to mine mana stones anymore, this damn father of his was actually about to give up and let her go.

Hubert confronted his father, practically asking if he had gone insane, then pushed him forward, insisting that when you had your eye on a woman, the proper approach was to go all in without hesitation.

Thanks to his son’s tear-inducing efforts, Gerd had managed to advance to the point where he was going to visit Evan’s house.

“Father! This is the outfit! You must wear this when you visit!”

“That is for ceremonies in the Demon Realm.”

“Father, aren’t you at a huge disadvantage because of your age?! You need to look as young and handsome as possible!”

The woman named Evan wasn’t even legally an adult by human standards, and she looked shabby because of the way she dressed, but if you examined her features individually, she was incredibly beautiful.

Once her freckles disappeared as she grew older, her face would probably become even more striking.

There would likely be a line of men proposing marriage to her from villages far and wide.

“Do you understand?! Father, you’ve hit the jackpot with an untouched lottery ticket! Build up her affection for you now, and the moment she becomes an adult, kidnap her and bring her here!”

“Kidnap her? I respect Evan’s wishes.”

“If you don’t kidnap her! Who would willingly marry into this backwater where the smell of beasts alone would make your nose rot?!”

“!”

You think of our home like that?

The Beast King Gerd was shocked. His eyes widened as he blinked his nictitating membranes repeatedly.

Since his father normally showed almost no changes in expression, Hubert felt a pang of guilt, realizing he might have gone too far. He immediately covered his mouth and shook his head.

“I see. The smell of beasts.”

“I-It’s bearable once you get used to it, Father.”

When Hubert offered that utterly ridiculous excuse, Gerd narrowed his eyes.

The two of them were both surprised.

As far as Hubert was concerned, this was the first time he had ever seen his father display so many facial expressions.

And Gerd, for his part, was learning for the first time that his son was actually this talkative.

“Regardless, bring a gift as well. Take something expensive.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Have you forgotten? There is Evan’s mother in that house, is there not?”

“!”

Come to think of it, that was true.

Gerd could speak casually with Evan, but just imagining having a conversation with Evan’s mother made him feel terribly uncomfortable.

For starters, what kind of person was Evan’s mother?

Considering that she had raised a child like Evan, was she someone with the same personality?

But both father and son had the same thought flash through their minds:

It would be a disaster if there were two people like that in this world.

“I will bring something expensive.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare something expensive.”

I hope Evan’s mother isn’t a frightening person.

The Beast King Gerd prayed to the King of All Monsters, who had not even been born yet.

Meanwhile, Hubert went over to a spider woman who was sleeping soundly and beat her awake, ordering her to weave some incredibly strong, durable fabric.

Evan’s prospective mother normally wore shabby clothes, and since she was apparently a ridiculously powerful person, Hubert thought she would probably like a gift made from ridiculously strong armor material.

◇ ◆ ◇

Unfortunately, the day Gerd was supposed to come visit was also the day a typhoon came roaring through.

“The weather is this bad. Maybe your friend gave up on coming after all?”

Mom said that, but I shook my head.

Gerd was the kind of person who did what he said he would do.

If he said he was coming to visit, then he would show up on the appointed day.

We had only known each other for two months, but I had that much confidence in him.

After all, Gerd was stubborn to the point of stupidity. In the crude way of putting it, there wasn’t a bigger pushover in the world than that guy.

Wasn’t he the same person who, despite barely knowing me, had desperately tried to stop me from going because he was worried I might die, even pulling out his claws to make his point?