My Illusion Is Survival - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18

This was unfair.

I felt madly wronged.

-Kiiing! Krung! Kheung!

-Kehengeng! Puheung!

Because I couldn’t understand why these guys were acting like this toward me.

‘Why the hell are they doing this to me?’

Everyone was looking at me suspiciously.

“That thing, it’s… scared, right?”

“Shh! Be quiet, Dariya.”

“Y-yes! S-sorry, Father.”

Yeah, that was the real problem.

These guys weren’t acting cute because they liked me.

To survive, to survive from me…

They were desperately trying to show how harmless they were.

The way they wagged their drooping tails awkwardly was pitiful to watch.

Anyone could see they were terrified.

‘How could anyone not be suspicious seeing that?’

Even I would have been suspicious.

“Azel.”

I called out to Azel, who was looking at me most suspiciously from the front, but he still didn’t answer.

‘…Why did you have to follow me all the way here?’

At this point, I felt like heaven had abandoned me.

“Azel.”

“I’m listening.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s a misunderstanding.”

“…Misunderstanding?”

“Yes, a misunderstanding.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t come here looking for Aigres.”

Just as I was about to explain why I came to the Red Forest, another incident occurred.

-Kheoeong?

I don’t know what they were thinking, but the two creatures that had been quietly rubbing their heads suddenly jerked up.

-Keheung! Kyahuuung!

-Puheng!

Then they clung to each other and trembled violently.

They wouldn’t be this scared even if they met thugs in an alley.

“…That’s a misunderstanding?”

Thanks to that, deep silence fell once again.

‘Is this that possessor privilege thing or whatever?’

I didn’t even have a system to ask, so this was really shitty.

*

The Aigres was afraid of the human before its eyes.

It wasn’t just some wild beast. Though it was of a different class from birth, ignorant humans treated them as vicious beasts.

But that was no longer the problem.

Even Azel, who had beaten it to a pulp, wasn’t this frightening.

Death at the hands of a stronger, greater being was natural and glorious.

‘But that one is different!’

The real problem lay with Elpis.

‘That human woman smells of time. Such a strong scent means she’s a human favored by Gaspata.’

Indeed, not long ago, the time spirit Gaspata had bestowed a blessing upon Elpis.

It was a small favor to prevent any dangerous things from harming her.

And the mystical being Aigres naturally detected the scent of the ‘blessing’ Gaspata had granted.

‘A servant of Gaspata exists on this earth!’

Having grasped all the causality through scent, the Aigres naturally acted according to the laws of nature.

‘If I touch her wrong, I’ll suffer something worse than death!’

It submitted to a superior predator greater than itself.

-Krrrreung!

This was how such an adorable cry came from its massive maw.

However, it wasn’t a perfectly wise choice, of course.

Because ordinary humans couldn’t possibly know about blessing scents and such things.

To humans who didn’t know the truth, it was all just strange occurrences.

“This is a misunderstanding.”

“Please believe me, Azel. I really didn’t do anything.”

A spirit who granted a blessing out of momentary kindness, and humans who knew nothing of it.

No one yet knew what consequences this small crack would bring.

-Krung, kreureung!

“Linoa Marigold, wait. Please don’t avoid my gaze! It’s true! I’m telling the truth!”

“…Yes, I’ll believe you. A misunderstanding. Yes, of course. It’s all just a misunderstanding.”

A small snowball was still rolling at rapid speed.

*

I eventually gave up on explaining.

Now that I’d chosen to give up, my mind became surprisingly at ease.

-Kang! Keheng!

-Kiiing! Geureureung!

I was so at ease that hearing those affectionate cries no longer bothered me.

The way people looked at me?

That didn’t matter anymore either.

Why, you ask?

‘I don’t know! I don’t know anymore either! Things will work out somehow! As long as I’m alive, that’s enough. Hahahaha!!!!’

Because I was already in a “whatever happens, happens” state.

The reason I became like this was simple.

We were currently riding the two Aigres like horses.

‘Aigres are inherently vicious and can never be tamed? Then what’s this?’

It was thanks to the two creatures competing to offer their backs when I muttered about needing a way to transport the injured.

Even those who had told me about the Aigres’ ferocity couldn’t say a word at that moment.

Thanks to that, the boy named Dariya began looking at me with very respectful eyes.

In this situation, struggling alone asking people to believe me was also ridiculous.

-Krung!

“Yes, yes. Good boy, good.”

I was now habitually patting the head of the creature acting cute, when I heard Linoa Marigold’s voice from behind.

“Didn’t you say you had another purpose for coming here? Would it be alright to just return like this?”

We were currently heading toward Dariya’s Village.

I felt bad about abandoning the injured old man, and more importantly, we couldn’t leave Linoa Marigold’s shoulder untreated.

“Treatment comes first, after all.”

‘Still, it’s a shame though.’

Then suddenly, a good idea occurred to me.

‘Wait. Do I really need to go there myself?’

What I needed was somewhere in this forest anyway, and conveniently, there was a very smart errand runner here.

“Hey.”

As soon as I called to Aigres who was carrying me, the creature visibly flinched.

-Grung?

“Could you run an errand for me?”

When I asked in the gentlest voice possible, the creature looked at me with innocent eyes.

It seemed like the creature was breaking out in a cold sweat, but that was surely just my imagination.

Naturally, the others’ gazes turned toward us as well.

“If you go northwest, there should be a lightning-struck tree. Could you pick the white flowers blooming near it and bring them to me?”

It was actually an absurd thing to do.

However, since the creature seemed to understand human speech, it might just be possible.

‘Well, if it doesn’t work, there’s nothing I can do about it.’

I’d just try it for now. There was nothing wrong with trying.

“It’s very precious, so you have to bring it back carefully.”

-Grung?

Meanwhile, the creature that heard my words showed a reaction as if asking ‘Precious?’

“Yes, very, very precious. You have to bring it back carefully so it doesn’t get damaged. Can you do that?”

Actually, in terms of value, it wasn’t that precious of a flower.

However, there were many listening ears, and considering Aigres’s sharp teeth, a warning seemed necessary.

When I emphasized several times that it was precious and needed to be handled carefully, the creature blinked its eyes.

-Grrruk! Keheng!

The creature, who seemed to be pondering something deeply for a moment, soon responded with a rumbling sound.

The others watched this scene with curiosity, but since even I found the creature’s behavior fascinating, I didn’t feel anything particularly strange about it.

“Daddy, that lady is talking to a beast right now.”

“Shh! I told you to be quiet!”

Their gazes seemed to linger on me even more, but this too was probably just my imagination.

Anyway, the creature that understood my words quickly turned around and disappeared.

‘This actually works?’

Even at this point, I had no idea how absurd a thing I had just done.

*

And so, a little while later.

-Grrrung!

Before long, the creature returned.

But what Aigres brought back wasn’t the white flower I had expected.

“…Huh?”

No, this wasn’t even a flower to begin with.

What the creature had brought was,

“…Huh… huh…?”

A small pendant with white flower petals drawn on it.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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