Chapter 04
What nonsense is this again.
So that means I understood the lion’s words?
“That can’t be. I’ve never been able to understand animal language before…”
It was at that moment when I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
“But you, why aren’t you dead?”
“Well, because you haven’t eaten me yet?”
When I asked back as if it were obvious, the lion looked puzzled.
It seemed there was some unresolved question, but I couldn’t wait for that mouth to open.
Because I also had an important problem to solve.
“Excuse me, but could you please put me down first? This is my first time experiencing levitation, and I feel a bit strange.”
“Oh, right, that’s true.”
As if he had forgotten, the lion slapped his own forehead with his giant front pawāthwackāand then swung his tail once in a large arc.
Then my body, which had been floating in the air, slowly descended to the ground.
Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief and properly begin my conversation with the lion.
“But earlier you said you wouldn’t eat me. Is that really true?”
“Of course. I do not kill.”
“A predator that doesn’t kill? Why? Oh, because you’re the goddess’s agent?”
When I nodded as if I understood, the lion snorted, “Hmph.”
“Agent, my foot. I’m not that. I’m merely a contractor.”
“A contractor?”
“Yes. Hedele promised to make me a divine beast if I refrained from killing and cultivated my mind and body in this cave for a thousand years. I have never broken that contract since.”
‘Never broken it?’
I found the lion’s words questionable.
Judging from the situation I had experienced so far, it seemed the lion had been drowning the sacrifices that entered the cave, but that still counted as committing murder.
He just didn’t eat them.
“Then what about the sacrifices offered so far…”
I was about to ask what had happened to them.
“It wasn’t me!”
The lion panicked and waved his front paws.
“I don’t know, I did nothing wrong! They kept crawling into my dwelling and bothering me, so I yelled at them to stop coming in, and then they all collapsed and died one by one! What did I do…”
Watching the lion scratch the ground with his giant front paws and make a sulky face, I nodded understandingly.
‘Aha, so they died of heart attacks.’
Come to think of it, if the lion’s roar hadn’t been translated into human speech for me, I might have died suddenly as well.
How many people could maintain their sanity when such a massive lion roars?
‘Unless you have an exceptionally strong heart, it would be difficult.’
After nodding for a while, I thought of another question and opened my mouth.
“Wait a minute. According to that contract, you can’t leave this cave for a thousand years. So what do you eat to survive? There can’t be any food in a cave like this.”
The lion sighed deeply at my words, then tapped the cave wall with his front paw.
“This is my staple food.”
Wondering what it was, I went over and saw moss densely clinging to the wall.
“…You eat moss? A lion?”
“Yes, there’s nothing else in this cave but this moss, so I have no choice.”
The corners of the lion’s eyes drooped.
For a creature that was supposedly the strongest predator on land, living on moss didn’t seem very satisfying.
‘Well, anyone would make that face if moss became their staple food.’
Clicking my tongue sympathetically, I cautiously asked.
“Then how much longer do you have to go to complete that thousand years?”
At that moment, the lion’s expression hardened, and he muttered in a grim voice.
“…Passed.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
I only asked again because his voice was very quiet.
Absolutely not.
“It’s passed, I said passed, long passed! It’s already been a thousand years and five years since I’ve been stuck in this cave eating nothing but moss!”
“…”
I had no intention of leisurely listening to the lion’s story of being scammed.
—
The lion kept shouting as if some seizure button had been pressed.
Not only that, he even burst into tears, dropping tears like chicken droppings.
Stunned by this rare sight I was seeing for the first time in my life, I finally stammered after a long while.
“Th-then the contract period is already over, isn’t it? So why are you still stuck here like this?”
“What else do you think! It’s because Hedele, that damned goddess, has disappeared!”
“The goddess disappeared? To where?”
“If I knew that, would I be stuck here like this?”
Annoyed by my clueless question, the lion bared his sharp fangs and growled.
“You’re right. That was shortsighted of me.”
Quickly changing my attitude before any stray sparks hit me, I swiftly changed the subject.
“Then why don’t you go out and look for the goddess? The deadline has passed anyway, so you don’t have to stay cooped up in this cave.”
At that, the lion’s expression turned sulky again.
“If I could have done that, I would have done it long ago. I can’t leave this cave.”
“You can’t leave? Why?”
“Hedele placed a restriction so that I cannot leave this cave without her permission.”
“Huh? Why would she put such a restriction?”
When I tilted my head in puzzlement, the lion hesitated and spoke.
“Well… the truth is, I tried to escape a few times. I got sick of being stuck in a dark cave eating nothing but moss, so…”
The lion scratched his temple with his giant front paw and grinned sheepishly.
‘Some candidate for divine beast he is.’
Disgusted by the pathetic glimpse of his character, I shook my head and spoke again.
“Anyway, that means I don’t have to die. Since you said you don’t kill. Right?”
“Well, I suppose so?”
With the lion’s agreement, I breathed another sigh of relief.
“What a relief. My life had too many regrets to die like this.”
Especially the fact that I hadn’t crushed those trashy people more thoroughly was the most vexing.
‘What should I do about them? First, I’ll have to seize the jewelry I left behind, right? Then I’ll also seize the jewelry I left behind. Why should the gambling debts that trash created be paid with the duchy’s assets? I was too merciful. Now, what next… Huh? Wait a minute.’
Just as I was calmly planning my revenge, I suddenly froze like a statue.
—
“It seems you’ve only looked into my personal assets, but that’s not all I disposed of. I sold off every single family asset and donated it all.”
“Why wouldn’t I have the right? I have all the family seal and authority. Grandpa handed it over to me before he died, saying that if he left it to my incompetent father who only knows how to be extravagant, he’d squander it all within three years.”
“How far did I go? Everything from the house my father lives in, to the mines, to the businesses. Ah, but I didn’t touch my father’s jewelry or the jewelry of his attachments.”
—
Because I had just remembered the fact that not only was there no property left in my name, there wasn’t even a single house to return to.
‘…Damn it!’
Why did I do something so insane?
After all the hardships I endured to protect the assets while putting up with my incompetent father and his attachments who didn’t know their place and indulged in excessive luxury!
I felt all the blood draining from my body.
But this was nothing.
—
“You didn’t think that far because you’re stupid, did you? I thought so.”
“Of course it’s revenge. I’m about to be forced to my death by my father’s hands, but my father gets to live happily playing happy family with those lowlifes? That’s just too unreasonable. Don’t you think so?”
“If you’ve satisfied your curiosity, now please get that filthy face out of my sight. I’m trying to die content after saying everything I needed to say, but having to keep looking at that disgusting face is really pissing me off.”
—
Compared to the insane things I had said.
No matter how much he lacked authority, he was still the head of the family.
Did I really think that trash would leave me alone?
‘He’ll try to drag me down from the succession position by any means necessary… Ugh, this disastrous mouth of mine!’
Slapping my reckless mouth repeatedly, I then shook my head.
‘No. At least I saved my life. I came back alive from the brink of death, so there must be a way.’
Wiping my damp eyes, I staggered toward the entrance.
Just then, the lion called me back.
“Huh? Where are you suddenly going?”
“Where else? Outside the cave, of course.”
“What? You’re leaving? This cave? Why?”
“Well, you said you weren’t going to eat me anyway. So there’s no reason for me to stay here anymore.”
When I answered as if asking why he was questioning the obvious, the lion blinked blankly and then suddenly shouted.
“No. You can’t leave! Absolutely not!”
He looked so desperate that I grew even more puzzled.
“Why? Is there some reason I can’t leave?”
“Of course there is. A very big reason at that!”
The lion’s expression as he said this was quite grave.
