Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 144

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 144
‘So I ate my fill and fell asleep like that….’
Even now, the memory embarrassed me. It wasn’t my first time sharing a meal with humans, but I never expected to reveal my hunger so openly.
I felt ashamed of myself for eating so contentedly without refusing the relentless young girl who kept pushing food toward me.
In any case, after spending an unexpected night, I, Asmo-rina, surveyed the humans bustling about busily.
Just then, the young girl who had offered to fold my blanket brought bread from somewhere and held it out to me.
“What is this?”
“You said you didn’t like the soup, so I brought bread instead. It’s a bit dry, but it’s edible if you chew it well.”
“….”
I had meant that I didn’t want to eat breakfast with them, but the girl seemed to have interpreted it as disliking soup.
The young girl pressed the bread into my hands despite my bewilderment.
“By the way, what’s your name, sister?”
“….”
“Mother says you must always learn the name of your benefactor. That’s what makes you mature.”
The girl’s innocent demeanor—so unlike the one who had bitten a bandit’s leg yesterday—made me furrow my brow.
I wanted to tell her to stop talking and drive her away, but having already received bread from her, I found it difficult to be harsh.
I clicked my tongue briefly and spoke.
“Asmo-rina.”
“Asmo sister?”
“That’s my family name. Rina is my given name.”
“So you’re Rina sister! What a cute name.”
The words that only my mother and colleagues called me by my given name rose to the tip of my tongue, but I held back again.
“Oh, my name is—”
“I’m not curious.”
“It’s Lua. My name is quite cute too, isn’t it?”
“….”
Are all human children like this? Unable to adapt to such a conversation, I furrowed my brow.
“My grandmother gave me this name. She knows the old language well, and the word Lua actually means something in the sky….”
“Cloud.”
“That’s right! How did you know?”
‘Because that’s the Demon Realm language.’
Sky and Lua—familiar pronunciation. I had suspected as much, but the girl was casually using the language of the Demon Realm as her name.
‘Is there a demon among her group? Or perhaps a summoner?’
I concentrated my mind and sensed the magical power of the people around me. I could feel that they possessed quite a bit of magical power for humans.
‘It’s faint, but it’s not at a human level. If that’s the case, then this is….’
Thinking that I had shown interest in her name, Lua spoke with a brighter voice.
“Would you like to know my grandmother’s and mother’s names too? My mother is Yunis, and my grandmother is Juanna. The meanings of both names are….”
“Wings and gentle breeze. Why is your family so obsessed with the sky?”
“Wow! You knew right away—are you actually part of our family?”
“That’s nonsense.”
Asmo-rina irritably stuffed the bread into her mouth. Just as Lua had said, it was dry and crumbly.
“My grandmother told me our family used to be a tribe that flew through the sky. Just like angels. But one day, that ability suddenly vanished, and we’ve been walking ever since.”
“…So you can’t forget the sky, and that’s why you give yourselves names related to it?”
“Exactly. Plus, we can’t live beneath a stagnant sky, so we have to keep traveling. That’s why we sometimes journey with people we happen to meet.”
Asmo-rina shoved the remaining bread into her mouth and finally seemed to understand, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips.
‘A celestial tribe that guides travelers… Ah, the Cloud Wanderers.’
The Cloud Wanderers—a nomadic Demon clan that never settled in one place, drifting for their entire lives.
They were a mysterious tribe shrouded in legend, said to wander the skies and guide chance-met travelers toward their destined paths.
‘Skilled in levitation magic, and remarkably for Demons, they show no inclination toward warfare, nor do they cling to power and dominion… or so the records claim.’
Information about the Cloud Wanderers was scarce. They had vanished from the Demon Realm ages ago—so thoroughly that even during the great wars that ravaged the Demon Realm, no trace of them could be found.
‘Now it makes sense. The sky wanderers fled to the Human Realm to escape the conflict. These people are their descendants.’
A chance encounter with a traveler who turned out to be a Demon descendant, and they were the Cloud Wanderers themselves—legendary even in the Demon Realm. What a mysterious coincidence.
“…So, sister, my grandmother suggested you travel with us.”
Asmo-rina, lost in thought, only now heard those words and furrowed her brow.
“What? Why me?”
“Because you’re a traveler too, aren’t you? And you don’t really have a clear destination anyway?”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“I can tell just by looking at your belongings.”
Lua glanced at the scattered bedroll as she spoke.
“All you have is an outer cloak and a waterskin—not even a map. Travelers without maps fall into one of two categories: either they live nearby, or they have no destination. This is a deep mountain valley, so you can’t live nearby… which means…”
She counted off on her fingers as she continued her explanation.
“…you must be the latter. You’re incredibly strong, so you probably set out alone without companions. You probably think you can just forage for berries and nuts as you go, right? Isn’t that how it is?”
“…”
Struck by the truth, Asmo-rina had no words to offer.
She lacked the grounds to deny it.
Lua shrugged and continued.
“If you’re going to wander through these mountains anyway, why not travel with us? We can provide food, and I’ll lend you a bedroll—it’s a bit worn, but it works.”
Just as she was about to refuse such charity, the legend of the Cloud Wanderers surfaced in her mind.
‘They guide travelers to places of destiny.’
The words fit her current aimless wandering with an uncanny precision.
If such a coincidence had truly befallen her, wouldn’t traveling with them reveal the answer to her troubles?
‘Why not give it a chance?’
She had nothing else she wanted to do anyway. She wasn’t one to believe in superstition, but still, accompanying them for a while didn’t seem like a bad way to pass the time.
“…Fine. I’ll tag along for a bit.”
At Asmo-rina’s consent, Lua’s face brightened.
“Really? Thank goodness! Our weapons were all destroyed in that last attack, and we desperately needed a guard. This saves us money!”
“…Was that your real objective all along?”
“Hehe.”
Watching Lua avert her eyes, Asmo-rina let out a short laugh.
She didn’t dislike that playful charm.
“Well then, let me introduce my family!”
Asmo-rina followed Lua, who held her hand and led her forward.
For some reason, I had a premonition that this journey would stretch on quite considerably.

* * *
“We’re going to patrol this city. Change your clothes.”
That was the first thing Jeina said when we met in the morning after her rest.
I widened my eyes as I prepared for my duties while sipping black tea.
“A patrol? What are you talking about?”
“I want to see with my own eyes how much Monos has grown. So we’re going out.”
“I can show you settlement documents anytime you’d like…”
“I’ve already seen the documents reported to the Imperial Palace. What I want is to see the real lives of the residents.”
I understood what she meant, but the clothes she’d brought were the problem.
I pointed at the elaborate and delicate pale pink dress she’d brought, which seemed to have no connection to me whatsoever. “What does this dress have to do with the patrol?”
“If you go out like that, people will swarm thinking a saint is walking around. So you need to disguise yourself.”
“Then I could just wear a robe. Why this kind of dress…?”
“Do you know how suspicious a traveler wrapped up in a robe from morning would look? It’s more natural to pretend to be a young noblewoman visiting a new tourist attraction.”
‘…Now that I think about it, she has a point.’
Besides, Jeina was someone who exuded dignity even while standing still. It would be obvious if she tried to disguise herself as a commoner.
“But both you and I have hair that…”
“I’ve prepared a veil and a wide-brimmed hat.”
True to form, my sister was thorough in her preparations.
She pulled out an elaborate hat adorned with flowers and feathers that matched the dress.
I pressed my furrowed brow with my fingers as I spoke.
“Then why don’t you go alone? I’ll assign you a Guard. I have work ahead…”
“No, you’re coming with me. I need your explanations.”
“Viscount Gorden will explain well. I…”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. I want to hear about your city from your own lips.”
“…”
Breaking Jeina’s stubbornness was impossible as always. I gazed down at the vibrant dress with a gloomy expression.
Breaking Jeina’s stubbornness was impossible after all. I looked down at the vibrant dress with a gloomy expression.

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