Volume 5 Chapter 3 Flying Whale
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Fuhahaha, I’m not cold, not cold at all. Against this cold wind, I’m invincible.
I never expected my No-Heat skill, meant to hide from snake-type monsters, could be used just for warmth. It’s exhausting with long use, but if I think of it as training, it’s fine.
I realized it last night. I went outside the Ant Hill Fortress (temporary) in the middle of the night to relieve myself, and as soon as I stepped out of the tunnel, the cold almost froze me.
That’s when I encountered it. The presence of something terrifying I couldn’t fully comprehend made me instantly activate my Stealth skill.
I’m not bragging, but I’m really confident in my ability to hide now. Even a dragon like Uno couldn’t find me if I really hid.
The night was clear, with not a cloud in sight, and the sky was filled with stars. That’s when it appeared, blotting out part of the starry sky.
It looked like a giant flying ship, painted completely black. It seemed to be a living creature.
A flying whale? It didn’t have fins, and it was clearly something other than a whale. But I couldn’t think of anything else to call it. I don’t even think a monster like that appeared in the game.
It approached silently, gliding slowly across the night sky. Just as I was about to scream from the rising fear, a brown quail suddenly burst from the grass nearby. The timing was perfect, and it scared the life out of me.
It wasn’t just one. Quails from all over the field soared up, swirling in the air as they were drawn toward the ghostly whale above.
The creature opened its huge mouth, half the size of its body, and swallowed the flock in one gulp. For them to walk toward it and be eaten, it was like collective suicide. At that moment, I was overwhelmed by an indescribable fear, and maybe the quails had been mentally controlled.
I… could only hide in silence, stunned. If it spotted me, it was over. The difference in strength was so huge, resistance would be pointless──no matter if it was a dragon, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.
I kept praying, trembling, for the ghost whale to be somewhere else. How much time had passed? It should’ve only been a few minutes, but it felt like hours to me.
The monster leisurely flew off into the sky. What on earth was that thing?
After a while, when I came to, I noticed I wasn’t cold. At first, I thought maybe my senses were numbed by fear, but no. It was an unexpected side effect of the No-Heat Skill, which prevents enemies from sensing my body heat. Come to think of it, it makes sense since it blocks infrared rays, it could even be used for warmth. If used too long, I might have a problem with overheating instead.
After a night of terror, unable to sleep, I decided to bake pizza for breakfast. I used Mr. Zenom’s custom-made portable smoker. It’s made of copper, designed to fold up small for carrying, but I doubt I’ll use it in the dollhouse dungeon. In the end, I left it behind for Ms. Ant and the others to make good use of.
The pizza loaded with herbs similar to celery and smoked quail meat was quite delicious. A pizza without cheese might as well be called a meat pie, but I kept calling it pizza, and before I knew it, the name stuck. With Ms. Ann’s help, I baked plenty for our lunch… I guess it’s about time to have some cold pizza as a snack.
At breakfast, I asked Ms. Nina and the others about the flying whale, but no one knew anything.
However, they did say that there is a terrifying entity called the void monster in this world. Its true form is a mystery since no one who’s seen it has lived to tell the tale, but something is definitely up there.
Hearing that just made me even more scared. If that thing had found me, I might have been controlled and devoured like the quail. No, I really wasn’t found at that time, was I? Its little black eyes seemed to glance at us for a moment, I swear.
* * *
After breakfast, I said goodbye to Ms. Ant and the others, then set off towards the dollhouse dungeon. I strictly instructed them not to do any major construction while I’m away, just keep an eye on the place.
From the Ant Hill Fortress (temporary), ahead is an unknown area. The cart I lucked into earlier is loaded with tents and preserved food, so we’ll move much slower.
Still, my calculation says we should reach it by early afternoon. The puppeteer’s dungeon isn’t very famous, but it’s well-documented and the location is clear. It’s not some fake, barely-real illusion dungeon.
Today, Ms. Joa is quietly following behind Ms. Claire. She’s probably tired from pulling the cart, but she was scolded by Ms. Claire yesterday for being too hyper.
The two horsefolk have a social hierarchy: Ms. Joa ranks higher, with Ms. Claire as her servant-type subordinate. But in the horsefolk army, Ms. Claire’s rank is actually higher. Even though everyone’s expected to serve the nation, in the army, subordinates obey their superiors without question, regardless of social standing.
So sometimes, Ms. Joa gets scolded harshly by Ms. Claire. Ms. Joa, raised as a wealthy young lady, is quite spoiled, and it seems correcting her is part of Ms. Claire’s job.
If I interfere strangely, the subjugation skill might activate. If the proud Ms. Joa rebels, a brain drug-like thing might flood her brain to force her obedience, turning her into a robot-like wreck. So I’ll leave Ms. Joa to Ms. Claire and stay out of it.
* * *
By the way, I’ve been feeling those cold, fixed stares from behind for a while now. It’s not Ms. Joa’s glare── it’s Ms. Nina’s.
Even though I’ve done nothing wrong, I feel uncomfortable.
She probably doesn’t know about what happened with Ms. Ant. Even if she did, it’s not a big deal, so I wouldn’t bother bringing it up.
As for what happened with Uno and the others, I’m confident I can keep quiet and avoid trouble. It’s a love affair in the dragon’s nest beyond the spirit world, so for Ms. Nina, it’s like some far-away world. Plus, the divorce is fully finalized.
Well, this is bad. Pii-Pii can speak broken human language. And Ms. Nina is a language buff, so it’s not strange if she can speak fairy language too. Keeping them alone last night might have been a mistake.
Calm down, if you feel guilty, it’ll show in your attitude. Ms. Nina’s sharp sense picks up on that easily. When she was in Japan, I’d see celebrity cheating scandals and think “Adults are hopeless,” but now that I’m in the same position, all I can think of is hiding it. I guess I’m becoming a bad adult too.
Polygamy isn’t a problem in this world, but girl’s jealousy isn’t much different from Earth’s. Most of Shea-Shea’s romance novels are about harem stories where the heroine fights to oust rivals, and it’s pretty messy. There are stories where the heroine becomes the queen of reverse harem, or finds love with one guy, but in the end, a rival girl always shows up and things get ugly. Maybe it’s the same as the shoujo manga her little sister used to read.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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