Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Otherworld Demon King Survival Guide.

Episode 69: Big-Hearted Pixies (3)

“Hold on, a Dryad?”

That was the scientific name I came up with… No, that was not it. The language magic of the pixies was active. Probably, the concept known by the pixies was being translated to me, and that’s why I heard it like that.

Thinking about it, the fact that we were having this conversation itself is magical.

“Huh? Why?”

“No, it’s nothing. But taming? It’s not like you’re taming a beast.”

Somehow, it became a daily routine to do such things with Sharan. But I couldn’t just accept the word ‘taming’.

“We became close through love and friendship.”

“Love and friendship? So you became friends?”

“Yeah, something like that?”

“How did you become friends? We can’t do that.”

Serinu, her lips pouted, spoke as if she was jealous.

“Tell me. How did you become friends?”

“You want to know?”

“Yeah. If we can be friends, then we don’t have to fight, right?”

She had a point.

Did she think I’d simply spill such secrets? Comparing it to a restaurant, it was like asking for a recipe on the first meeting. Wasn’t this too much of an imposition?

“Why do you keep hesitating? Is it hard to recall?”

“…”

That’s what I thought, but Serinu’s attitude seemed genuinely curious.

What should I say?

Even though our conversation was brief, I sensed something. These pixies… How should I say it? Compared to beings like humans, they seemed very pure and naive.

I felt like they could be easily deceived. And being deceived and troubled seems foreseeable.

“It’s not like that. I think you’re right. It’s good if we don’t have to fight.”

“Yes! Fighting is not good!”

Maybe because her opinion was affirmed.

She looked happy.

“But the forest is full of conflicts, so we have no choice but to keep fighting. So I’m curious. Dryads are a bit dangerous. If possible, I’d like not to fight.”

So, I was considered a wild beast?

But my relationship with Sharan might just be possible because I was male. A species of only females might not be able to befriend a Dryad. Originally, when Sharan first saw me, she liked me because she perceived me as a male.

“Tell me quickly. We agreed not to fight from today, right?”

What did that have to do with anything?

Such logic of sharing information, because we agreed not to fight, was ridiculous. This again proved my thought. The pixies’ way of thinking was somewhat childish by human standards.

Though humans had their own wickedness.

Originally, human society itself consisted of numerous humans linked organically and operating together. The way of thinking and acting must be entirely different from species like pixies who lived in nature as a small group. These pixies probably had little experience communicating with other beings in the forest.

“So, you want to know how to befriend a Dryad?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not hard to explain. But if I tell you, you have to tell me something I’m curious about.”

This could be used to my advantage.

If the pixies understood the concept of give-and-take, I might be able to obtain valuable information. They were the natives here. They must know a lot.

But then.

“What? Why should I?”

The creature narrowed its eyes slightly.

“Huh?”

This guy?

“Why should I tell you what you’re curious about?”

What, what?

Serinu spoke with an expression that genuinely seemed to not understand… Did I say something wrong just now?

I was a bit taken aback now.

“That’s because I told you what you were curious about. So, you should tell me too. Don’t you know the principle of giving and taking?”

I tried my best to explain simply.

“Give one thing in return? That’s in your favor, isn’t it?”

Serinu, arms folded, spoke in a tone suggesting disbelief.

“We don’t know if we’ll continue not fighting in the future, so I can’t just do favors for you.”

Damn it.

So if you got something, you’d just take it and give nothing in return to me, a potential enemy?

“No, hey, then what favor am I doing for you? If I tell you how to befriend a Dryad, that’s in your favor, right?”

“I have to take the good for myself since I don’t know how things will turn out with you. Conversely, I shouldn’t do you any favors. You’re Kyuse, right? In the forest, one always has to be cautious. You have to weigh the gains and losses. A wrong choice can lead to great harm.”

Tch.

Serinu made a sharp gesture toward me while saying that. Who did she think she was teaching?!

“Hey, come on!”

She couldn’t put herself in others’ shoes!

She was just selfish!

It was clear she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too!

“Kyaa?! Why are you yelling?! Are you trying to fight us now?! We just agreed not to fight!”

Damn it!

What was with her?

It was so frustrating!

“Sigh”

Calm down! Calm down, Kyuse! Kim Kyuse!

You shouldn’t lose your temper here! These pixies might seem naive, but their combat abilities were decent!

So, approach cautiously!

They looked stupid. I could persuade them! Calm down and handle the situation!

“Wait, tell me! We agreed not to fight, didn’t we? Are you planning to break the promise?!”

Serinu and another two pixies crouched down in defense. It would be bad if they used magic. Taking a deep breath, I spoke as calmly as I could.

“What? Who said I wanted to fight? We promised not to fight, didn’t we? So why would I? A promise is a promise, right?”

Even though it was a brazen explanation.

Any human would scoff at hearing this.

“Huh?”

But…

“… You’re right. A promise is a promise.”

She bought it.

“Right? So, what’s this fuss about? Why would I want to fight?”

“Um… you yelled just now. So, I thought you wanted to fight. You scared us. Isn’t that your fault?”

“…”

A really audacious attitude.

It seemed that these pixies inherently liked to pick fights.

“And whether or not you keep a promise, we can’t be sure. We’re not fools. We guarded ourselves just now because of that thinking.”

Blaming others for everything.

Anyway, I heard her excuse.

“Alright, then we’re good? Anyway, we agreed not to fight.”

Saying that, Serinu nodded her head.

Taking advantage of that moment, I decided to ask a question.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What do you want to ask?”

Serinu tilted her head, curious.

What I was about to do was a kind of intelligence test. These creatures had a very different way of thinking from mine. I needed to test how to converse with them.

“How did you become friends with those fairies?”

“Fairy? What’s that?”

“Huh? You don’t know?”

What?

Wasn’t the language supposed to be translated?

“You know, those tiny creatures that fly around. The ones you sent to us.”

“Oh, them? Why do you call them fairies? They aren’t fairies.”

Of course, in your language, they wouldn’t be termed “fairies.”… Hmm, did proper nouns get translated unilaterally?

“Anyway, how did you become friends with them?”

This question directly contradicted what Serinu had said about ‘their benefits.’ She had blabbered that if she answered what I was curious about, it would be a favor to me.

But then…

“We played with the ones who came to us. That’s how we became friends.”

She answered so nonchalantly.

“…”

They really weren’t that bright, were they?

“Oh, right. We were talking about something else. How did you become friends with the Dryad?”

Serinu seemed to remember and asked.

“… Fine. I’ll tell you. How I became friends with the Dryad.”

“Wow!”

She became genuinely happy knowing I’d share.

“Thank you!”

And then she cheered.

ㅡChulreong!

Her large, heavy chest bounced up and down.

That was some serious… ugh.

Even a bit of her nipples showed, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Tell me quickly! It’s not good to keep someone waiting!”

“Alright, I’ll tell you quickly. The way to befriend a Dryad is to give them a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. A gift.”

Serinu tilted her head, and I explained.

“If you give something you consider good to someone else, how do you think they’ll feel?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Why not?”

This blockhead, seriously.

Did I have to explain even this?

“Why wouldn’t I know? What do you mean? What I think is good might not be so for the other person.”

“What.”

Why was she being so rational now?

“Well… what if you pick something they like and give it?”

“How do I know what they like and give them a good gift?”

“…”

“If I know what they like to that extent, aren’t we already friends? I don’t really know what beings I dislike prefer.”

Serinu said with a look of disbelief.

“I wanted to know how to become friends, not how to become closer with an already-friend.”

I can’t deal with these creatures.

“We don’t really know much about Dryads.”

“Whatever. I gave her a gift. And after she received it, the Dryad liked it. So, we became friends.”

“Huh? So it was just by chance?”

“Yes, by chance.”

“What? It was just a fluke? Anyone can say that.”

Damn, seriously.

I was about to lose my cool.

“So, what did you give?”

“That’s…”

It was a secret.

“…”

I briefly looked at Serinu.

She had an expression bursting with curiosity. Though she was somewhat rude and insolent, her look was rather cute.

“I gave something really good.”

I then said,

“I really gave something very precious and good.”

“A really good thing?! What is it?!”

She must be bursting with curiosity as she clenched her fist and asked loudly.

“I can’t just tell you that.”

“Why!!!”

“It’s very precious to me. We’re not friends yet. I can’t just tell something precious to someone who isn’t a friend, right?”

“Ah.”

She seemed to agree with my reasoning.

“You’re right. I can’t just spill precious things to non-friends. Precious things are shared only with friends…”

“Right?”

“Mmm… So, how can I become friends with you?”

“What? You want to be friends with me?”

Did she want to be my friend now?

“I’m curious about what that precious thing is. To know that, I have to be your friend, right? So, I want to be friends.”

I had never seen someone so naive before.

She just blindly believed what I said.

Just like fairies in fairy tales… Fairies often trusted humans without a doubt and ended up in trouble, especially the peculiar ones.

The pixies had a somewhat similar vibe.

“Well, it’s not hard. Remember what I just said?”

“What?”

“Giving a gift.”

“Ah!”

She was completely wrapped up in what I said.

“Let’s exchange gifts. I’ll give you something that I think is good, and you do the same. Then we can be friends.”

“Understood! We’ll do just that! Give gifts that we think are good!”

An excited Serinu shouted.

“Hehehe, yes. That’s the way.”

“I’ll get it right now!”

Right now?

“No, not today. Let’s meet here again tomorrow and talk. Then we’ll exchange gifts.”

“Okay!”

ㅡBrrrBrrr.

A wide-smiling Serinu began to fly low, heading back to her group. She flew quite well, considering. How could she fly with such a heavy chest?

Anyway, as she returned to her group, she started to chatter excitedly.

“Good.”

Watching her, I turned.

Sharan then clung to my side.

“Master. Are you going to give a gift to the pixies?”

“Yes, I plan to.”

“Then, Master,”

“Hmm?”

“Why not secretly feed them White Stuff?”

“What.”

Feed them White Stuff secretly?

“Pretend it’s a gift, maybe they’ll eat it?”

“Sharan, are you serious?”

“Yes, Master?”

“How did our thoughts align?”

This was so surprising!

“We thought the same thing!”

My thoughts aligned with Sharan!

If I used the excuse of a gift exchange to feed those insolent yet naive pixies my White Stuff… Perhaps, like Sharan, I could get them under my control.

It was a calculation, but…

“Shaashaasha! Sharan thought the same as Master!”

Sharan had the same idea!

“Hehehe, yes!”

Look at these selfish, rude, but naive creatures. They readily believed what I said. If I lured them properly and made them addicted by feeding my White Stuff… Just as it happened with Sharan and Lumica, I could surely make them mine.

I usually refrained from using such methods, but it was necessary now.

Earlier, their conversation frustrated me.

“So, Sharan. Can you make a small container for the White Stuff?”

“Yes, Master!”

Dancing with excitement, Sharan responded.

“All females love Master’s White Stuff. If fed secretly, you can make them yours!”

“Smart Sharan!”

“Shaashaasha!”

“Hahaha!”

This was the real deal.