WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 109: Warm and Nutty
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All the humans were dead.
The mother who had recovered her egg was happy.
That was how Pelerian, who had watched the situation from outside the egg, explained it to the snake.
Still, that explanation was slightly wrong.
Not all the humans were dead.
Six of the seven adventurers had died, their bodies torn into hundreds of pieces.
Even those remains had been devoured by the wyverns, leaving hardly anything intact.
Yet one person was still alive.
A corpse lay face-down in a pool of blood in one corner.
More accurately, Pandan was playing dead.
He slowly raised his head.
Wyverns could fly silently, so one might still be watching from afar.
Fortunately, it seemed they had truly all left.
“Haah.”
Pandan slowly got to his feet.
The area around him was covered in wyvern droppings.
The wyverns that had approached to eat him had recoiled in horror at the awful stench.
Wyverns could eat rotten meat without a problem, but they couldn't endure the smell coming from Pandan.
It was a smell that stirred something deep in their instincts, a horrible stench that made it seem like they'd catch a disease the moment they got close.
The enraged wyverns had dumped piles of droppings nearby before leaving.
It was filthy, but he had survived.
He'd have a drink once he got back.
“Ugh, the smell.”
Pandan frowned at the odor coming from his own body.
To him, it was only a little nauseating, but he hadn't expected it to be powerful enough to drive away wyverns.
'Honestly, I didn't think it would work this well.'
When he had first received the item, he had been doubtful.
It could keep monsters from approaching.
It sounded simple enough, but what mattered was how effective it actually was.
It had driven off enraged wyverns.
'So it wasn't a lie when they said it would cost ten times as much as gold of the same weight.'
He had been given that explanation along with the ampoule.
He had scoffed at the time, but apparently it hadn't been an exaggeration.
Pandan ran his fingers through his hair.
He scratched at his exposed forehead with a nail, then peeled away a sticky patch.
A tattoo that was normally hidden came into view.
The symbol of two interlocked rings.
It was the mark of the Empire's infamous thieves' guild, Two Rings.
“I thought I was going to suffocate.”
Pandan was not his real name.
If a name that stupid had been his real name, he probably would have resented his parents.
Pandan's real name was Pandang.
Quick-fingered Pandang.
An A-rank adventurer of the Continental Adventurers' Association and a fixer for the thieves' guild Two Rings.
As an adventurer, he had already failed the quest.
His party had been wiped out, so there was nothing he could do about that.
But his mission as a Two Rings fixer was not over yet.
'Gather practical information on training wyverns as war mounts...'
He had received this ampoule along with that mission.
There were not many factions that could hand over an item this valuable while assigning work like that.
'Is the Imperial Family really trying to create a wyvern knight order?'
It was not something a mere thieves' guild fixer could know, and even if he did, there was nothing he could do about it.
All he could do was stay and finish whatever work remained.
'It might be better to make friends with snakes. Raise snakes in ranger units or something.'
Wouldn't it be great to shoot snakes from bows instead of arrows?
Pandang chuckled at the thought.
“Mr. Snake. I wonder if you'll survive.”
The snake had shown surprising cleverness by hiding in an egg.
Even Pandang had been impressed by that.
It had clearly been a smart choice.
But the wyvern had taken the egg back to its nest.
Once it realized the creature inside was a snake and not its hatchling, the wyvern would tear it to pieces.
'That wyvern was terrifying.'
A mother who had nearly lost her egg possessed a terrifying kind of maternal instinct.
The Wyvern Fear carried in her roar had shaken Pandang's mind.
'Once I get out...'
He had even soaked his pants.
'I need to wash my clothes.'
Pandang waddled away, thinking of a way to escape.
* * *
「From an Interview with Mr. Lobanton, Who Returned Alive from a Wyvern Nest」
Solion Morning Reporter, hereafter “R”: ......So you were originally an authority in monster ecology, Mr. Lobanton. Even the Magic Tower sought your advice.
Dr. Lobanton Aiod, hereafter “L”: That's right. I'm forced to be humble now, but back then, there was nothing in the world I feared. When I gave a special lecture at Emerald Academy, even the dean invited me to join as a full professor.
R: And yet you entered the Demonic Realm yourself to study monsters. I can't help but respect that choice.
L: Looking back, it's what I regret most.
R: Haha......
At that point, the senior reporter observing my interview shot me an intense look.
I wondered if my laughter had been awkward, but he was glaring at Dr. Lobanton.
The doctor had been shaking his leg the entire time.
It wasn't ordinary fidgeting. He was shaking it so violently that it almost seemed like he was trying to draw everyone's attention.
R: Are you perhaps feeling a little nervous?
L: No. Why do you ask?
R: Your leg......
It felt rude to point out an old, injured doctor's shaking leg.
I tried to brush it aside, but Mr. Lobanton suddenly rolled up his pants.
For a moment, I thought he had lost his mind.
L: I'm sorry. My leg is like this.
I was a bearded man, and Dr. Lobanton was a bearded man too, so there was no reason to be embarrassed.
Still, I confess that I let out a cute scream at that moment.
A truly horrific scar covered his thigh.
How should I describe it?
It looked as though someone had shredded his flesh with a knitting needle heated in a fire, then knitted the skin back together.
R: Ah, that looks painful.
L: It was painful. Very painful. Even now, it brings back memories of that time......
R: Was that the work of Chugota, the Satorunu Wyvern Queen who captured you?
L: Chugota? Puhahaha!
It did not take long to understand why Dr. Lobanton was laughing.
L: This is the scar Chugota gave me.
Horrifyingly, he took off his pants altogether.
He was standing there in only his underwear, but his left leg hid another secret.
Everything below his knee was a prosthetic.
L: Chugota treated me like teaching material for the hatchlings. Chugota swallowed my left leg in one bite, telling them to tear into me like this. The marks on my right thigh are from the hatchlings copying Chugota.
I had interviewed many people who had suffered terrible things.
Still, Mr. Lobanton's past had a uniquely stomach-turning quality to it.
L: Wyverns normally tear their prey apart and eat it. But after laying eggs, they sometimes bring back prey alive.
R: To teach their hatchlings...?
L: That's right.
R: So monsters are that intelligent.
L: Don't be ridiculous. Even ordinary birds do that much. Monsters are far more intelligent. Chugota was a true queen who led hundreds of wyverns.
R: Yes, I see.
L: Chugota broke both my arms so I couldn't possibly hurt the hatchlings.
Lobanton raised both arms.
His left arm trembled on its own, and there were scars where bone must once have protruded.
R: Yes, I understand.
L: And that wasn't all!
As an experienced interviewer, I noticed that my elderly interviewee was getting far too worked up.
But I had missed the chance to stop him.
Excited, he suddenly ripped off his shirt.
Having already removed his pants, he had become a strange man standing in nothing but underwear.
L: Look at these scars!
R: Doctor, please put some clothes on first.
L: Chugota impaled me at the top of a tree and taught the hatchlings how to hunt.
A puncture scar remained near Lobanton's collarbone.
Honestly, though, the faded gray chest hair and his wrinkled naked body were harder to look at than the scar.
R: Please calm down. If you keep this up, the article...
L: Wyverns are horrible creatures. Cruel, evil monsters! Contact the Empire right now and mobilize every knight order!
He was in a far worse state than a wounded veteran suffering from the mental aftermath of war.
The interview had to end before the doctor took off his underwear too.
L: Ah, ah, wyvern air raid warning! Air raid warning!
R: Haah.
L: Mobilize all forces!
Wyverns truly were horrible creatures.
* * *
'I'm screwed.'
And I was definitely screwed.
It was great that I had survived by hiding in the egg.
But I hadn't expected to be dragged straight to the nest.
Pelerian told me about the surroundings.
-What a nest with quite a view.
A good view meant it was high up.
Sharp, vertical stone pillars, like giant swords stabbed into the ground.
At the highest point among them sat the nest of the Oblivion Wyvern Queen Seleta.
-There are three more eggs beside you. It won't be easy, but if you find an opportunity, you might be able to escape.
I couldn't fly.
Still, with help from Isil's vines, couldn't I somehow get down from the stone pillar?
I planned to escape the moment the mother left.
But surprisingly, I never got that chance.
-It seems the mother has made up her mind. She's starving herself while guarding her eggs.
I wondered if Medusa Mom had cared for her eggs so devotedly.
I couldn't imagine it after remembering how she used Tail Strike on children who didn't listen.
-Monsters that have many children at once and monsters that have only a few naturally behave differently. A wyvern may lay eggs only once in its lifetime as well.
Four eggs surely were not many in the harsh wild.
Having once had an egg stolen, Seleta did not let down her guard.
How many days had passed? I was so hungry and thirsty that I had no choice but to drink potions instead of water.
-Oh, the other eggs are hatching.
I could already hear it.
Crack, crack.
The sound of eggs breaking.
“Piiiii.”
“Pichii!”
Those were the noisy sounds a baby bird, no, a wyvern hatchling would make.
Strangely, the three eggs hatched one after another as though they had planned it.
Good. Wouldn't she go find food for the hatchlings now?
-I doubt it...
Pelerian was deeply pessimistic.
Trapped inside the egg, I had no source of information about the outside other than Pelerian.
-Huh, this is a little...
Then Pelerian said something ominous.
-I think she's worried because the egg you're in isn't hatching.
No, the original egg was basically no different from a raw egg at this point.
Why had the other hatchlings already emerged?
-Eggs need to stay beneath their mother's care to develop properly. It was left in cold Subspace, so it couldn't have matured properly.
Umberto had stored the egg in a Subspace expansion pouch.
That idiot...!
That was not what mattered right now.
“Gugugak!”
With a worried cry, the mother wyvern began tapping the egg from outside.
'Don't tell me she's going to break it herself.'
She couldn't use such a barbaric method!
But there was no reasoning with a wyvern.
Crack, craaack-
She finally began breaking the egg herself.
This was a life-or-death situation.
Should I launch a surprise attack from inside?
If Isil used Hellfire and I used Heavenly Thunder Decree, we could probably land at least one good hit.
-You'll die if you do that.
'Yes!'
I decided to follow Pelerian's advice.
The egg broke completely, and I met the mother's eyes.
I desperately pretended to be a newborn wyvern.
I wobbled around as if I couldn't even hold up my neck properly.
Then I made a hatchling-like sound with my mouth.
“Pishiii-”
Was that a little off?
“Piiiii!”
“Chiiii!”
Fortunately, the other hatchlings cried at just the right time.
Up close, a wyvern's head really did resemble a snake's.
The mother was the same, and so were the other hatchlings.
'This might work.'
I put my whole heart into the act.
For a moment, I nearly lost my composure when I heard Pelerian snort with laughter.
“Gugugugu......”
A strange sound came from the mother wyvern's mouth.
I could sense her anger.
Damn it, was it not going to work after all?
Come to think of it, I had no wings, and I was the only white one.
I didn't look like a wyvern.
“Gugagagagagak!”
The mother wyvern let out a thunderous roar.
She even fired a Destruction Beam into the sky.
The terrifying attack blasted a hole straight through the clouds.
'Goodbye, world.'
No matter how hard I thought, there was no way out.
I wasn't confident I could win.
And I wasn't confident I could run away either.
We were on top of a stone pillar that was far too high.
On top of that, there were countless other wyvern nests around us, likely belonging to Seleta's subordinates.
'Still, it wasn't a bad life.'
-Wait. I don't think she's angry at you.
'What?'
The wyvern showed no sign of crushing the snake that had pretended to be her hatchling.
Instead, she flipped me over to check whether I had wings.
Then she checked again to see whether I had legs.
When she realized I had neither...
“Gugooooo!”
Tears began welling up in the wyvern's eyes.
-Ah, so that's it.
'Don't tell me...'
-A disappointing child was born, and she's sad about it.
The youngest child, born white and without wings or legs.
The ugly wyvernling.
“Gguooooooak!”
Was she angry at the humans who had stolen her egg?
Overwhelmed by this absurd situation, I slowly backed away.
Seleta pulled me and her hatchlings into her arms all at once.
It was unmistakably a hug.
-Congratulations. You have a wyvern mom now.
My new mom's embrace was very warm, and smelled like rotten meat.
Well, I could live like this for now...
“Piiiiik!”
“Chupiii!”
My siblings all raised their heads, cried, and opened their mouths.
I stayed still in surprise, then felt Wyvern Mom's gaze on me.
I hurriedly copied them and opened my mouth.
That was when it happened.
Pushing aside my other siblings, Wyvern Mom stuffed something into my mouth.
It was warm and thick, and had come straight out of Wyvern Mom's mouth.
A special nutrient porridge for hatchlings.
'Uuugh!'
-Don't throw up. Eat it!
Gulp.
I swallowed it without thinking.
*「You have consumed Oblivion Wyvern Queen Seleta's nutritious gruel.」
*「Your body and Magical Essence grow.」
Uuuugh.
Footnotes:
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