chapter 226

Chapter 226

“Welcome!!”

Pwaaang—!

Flower pollen burst as it welcomed Gio.

“We’ve cleaned and tidied the burrow so our honored guest can stay comfortably.”

“Were you perhaps tired from coming all this way? We’ve prepared children to fan you.”

“If there is anything you desire, please tell us at any time!”

Fox-tribe chieftain Rami, disguised as a human, watched her own kin welcoming the “guest,” then stole a glance at Gio’s reaction. She, too, rubbed her hands together and smiled with her thin face.

“We had already been sprucing up our burrow so you could look around comfortably. You may look as much as you wish, as long as you’d like. We cannot dare to treat you to a meal, but we can gladly offer at least this minimum service.”

“Oh, I see.”

Gio looked around.

“It feels very different from the wolf tribe.”

“Hehe, the wolf tribe has no interest whatsoever in decorating their home. More than anything, wolves are strong in both body and mind, so if they simply make a single cave, they have no trouble living, but our fox tribe is truly fragile.”

Rami put on a deliberately sad expression.

“Without a soft bed, our bodies fall apart, and if our nest is not bright, we easily grow depressed. So we decorate our burrow as much as we can.”

“An interesting story. Then what about the crow tribe?”

“They, perhaps because they are the smallest-bodied among the tribes, also have small homes. They build egg-round nests using all manner of branches and leaves gathered from nature, mud, and their own feathers.”

You could call it the most cost-effective house.

“Of course, it collapses and breaks just as easily, but because of that, the crows make every tree in this forest their home and go through frequent moves.”

“So you could say the whole forest is their home?”

“They also produce the most ideal map of this forest that has ever been drawn. Because they can fly, they use that advantage to scout places even we cannot go to, as they are too dangerous.”

“Is that so...”

Indeed, the fox burrow felt completely different from the wolves’ gloomy den. Even though the world must have ended, no one knew where they had gotten them, but it was full of gold and silver treasures, and the area was neatly arranged with a bright atmosphere.

“You even grow plants.”

“Ah, those are...”

Rami smiled as she looked at the plants arranged here and there.

“They are purifying plants that help with breathing. Though we cannot create devices as impressive as the crow tribe’s, the fox tribe is not poor at using our heads, either.”

“Can you not breathe without these? For something like that, Ms. Rami, it seems you crossed the Black Forest to meet me without any device at all.”

“Because I am the chieftain! It is the seat the strongest and cleverest fox may sit upon. Of course, it’s not only I who can endure the Black Forest’s poison. There are those who mainly work outside, hunting and gathering.”

“Hm.”

Gio turned his gaze to the foxes watching him with smiling faces. They were still a little pale as if they were afraid, and even their smiles trembled slightly, but he could feel they were doing their best.

“Are foxes originally this skilled at shapeshifting?”

“Being specialized in shapeshifting is a great strength of our fox tribe!”

“I see!”

In the forcibly created cheerful atmosphere, Gio thought inwardly.

‘Cute.’

And it burdened him.

Argio would cast a “not my problem” no matter how they saw him, but Seo Gio’s and Giovanni’s traits cried out, “This doesn’t feel right.” Enjoying those contradictory emotions at once, he stroked his chin.

“Are all of you here adults?”

“Yes, that’s right. Immature children might make mistakes, so we’ve put them away.”

“My goodness, you needn’t fear me so.”

“...”

“How thoughtful.”

When he praised them for being admirable, Rami’s face turned white. She had clearly hidden her young children, making the excuse that they were “useless,” because she feared the being before her might harm them.

Once again, Gio thought.

‘Really cute.’

So what should he do about this?

‘To be honest... it’s a bit awkward.’

Every one of these Gios had a strong sense of “just do it first.” Their specialty was to assume the worst and the best, then push in at the right moment.

The problem was their reaction. The wolf tribe hadn’t shown fear to this extent, so at least he hadn’t felt sorry.

‘But these children are too afraid of me.’

And yet they were putting both hands and feet together and begging, trying to please him. That desperate gesture, seeking mercy, made pure, 100% Argio less awkward than Gio.

If they only showed five percent of the sincerity they were showing now, he would have planned to push shamelessly, saying, “If we’ve breathed in the same space, we’re friends now, right?” but...

“...”

In this situation, even if he asked, “Hey, want to be friends?” it was obvious the answer would be, “Yes, I’ll be your loyal foot-wiper, so please just spare me!” Gio decided to bury the proposal of being pen pals deep in his heart for now.

This kind of uncomfortable goodwill was a very ambiguous concept to Gio. He pitied the person offering the goodwill, and even if he wanted to repay them out of gratitude, there was a high chance they wouldn’t welcome it.

‘In times like this, what do you usually do...?’

For once, Gio fumbled.

“...”

“...”

Look at this chill silence—awkward for him, terrifying for them.

They weren’t clashing head-on like the wolves, nor watching in secret like the crow tribe; they were taking a posture of submission he never asked for. How was he supposed to treat people like this?

“Hm.”

Argio, who as an evil god had done nothing but take out his anger, pondered.

“Alright, first...”

Gio decided to try feeding them first.

“You said you’re hungry?”

“...Ah, yes! Please take pity on us and grant us mercy! We will truly do our best so we can fulfill everything you desire...!”

“The wolves said poisonless meat was enough.”

“! It’s the same for us, it’s more than we deserve!”

Everything they could hunt or gather in the Black Forest was poisoned, and lately even that had been gradually dwindling in number. Or else they were only monsters the fox tribe could never hunt.

“If you would give us a chance...!”

“I’ve already decided to give you a gift, so don’t worry.”

But only giving didn’t sit right with him. Even if it looked difficult right now, Gio wanted to become friends with them, and more than anything, he didn’t like a one-sided relationship of “bestowing.”

‘Should I poke once?’

Sadly, it didn’t seem like they could become comfortable right away, and...

Gio decided to propose a “deal” to soothe the foxes who looked like they would crawl on the floor any moment now. If there was giving and taking, the other person’s heart tended to be much more at ease—he was aiming for that with a small trick.

‘And I just so happen to have someone I’m looking for.’

No matter how much time passed, for some reason he no longer heard the voice calling him, and so—

‘How can you be so leisurely, after calling for me to come?’

In the end, Gio had to find the one who called him himself. He had no intention whatsoever of missing such precious talent who might become a new friend.

‘If things get complicated, the residents here could help solve it easily...’

Gio smiled and bent at the waist, meeting the eyes of fox-tribe chieftain Rami.

“Now.”

“...”

“Then how about this.”

In the form of a human woman, she was quite small compared to Gio. Gio kindly met her eyes and tilted his head shallowly. In a subtle voice so he wouldn’t feel like a threat, he said,

“Still, if I give a gift, it would only be proper for something to come back in return...”

“...”

“What do you think?”

“...We had prepared that as well.”

“Hm?”

How did you know what I was going to say, and prepared it?

“Though most of the foxes we prepared are old and only waiting for the day they die... I, I am still seven years old, and though I sit in the chieftain’s seat, I am still on the young side. My flesh is tender and I am in the best condition among foxes, so surely you will not find me lacking to eat.”

“Uh—wait a second.”

“Y-yes...!”

“...”

Argio recalled it too late.

“...Ah.”

Come to think of it, there had also been stories that the “evil god” ate people alive.

* * *

Gio ended up asking for help from Sancalute, an evil god like himself.

“If you help me, I’ll hold a blood festival for you.”

“Mr. Gio?”

“Have you heard of blood curd hangover soup?”

“...Why on earth are you calling that a blood festival?”

“I could also give you blood sausage.”

“No, I mean, your word choice since earlier is a bit... is it because you’re an evil god?”

“I want to hear your view.”

Juhyeon, who kept Sancalute as her bodyguard, came along and threw out a number of interruptions, but right now, none of it entered Gio’s ears. He had, in his own way, run into a life hurdle.

At the sight of Gio, the red snake tilted its head.

“What is the matter? You seem uncomfortable.”

“My children are afraid of me.”

“I think that’s only natural?”

“That is precisely the problem—because it isn’t natural to me at all. Seeing that reaction, it’s obvious you won’t be any help to me.”

“Your sudden disparagement makes me feel wronged.”

“I’m wronged too.”

He had no immunity to the kind of awkwardly broken atmosphere the fox tribe had shown.

Until now, Argio had been much more accustomed to complete rejection and wariness, or else anger. He had zero experience dealing with little ones who showed him goodwill while dripping flattery like this.

“They thought, of course, that I was going to eat them.”

“What exactly have you been doing in the ‘Animal Kingdom’...?”

“I am truly wronged, my friend.”

He knew there were rumors like that, but Argio had never actually eaten people. Even when he heard the story from the wolf Gargal, he had only enjoyed it, thinking, “So my ill repute gets inflated like this.”

“Could it be that I tried to have it easy and got punished by heaven?”

“...”

Juhyeon silently smiled and took Sancalute from around her neck, setting him down on the table. Confirming the position he’d been placed in, Sancalute straightened his body into a stiff line, eyes wide open as he faced Juhyeon.

“So you’re really going to throw me to the evil god as a snack. I never even imagined our friendship was only this much. I’m sure my body won’t taste good.”

“Since Mr. Gio made your body, it’ll taste good. More than anything, I didn’t put Mr. Sancalute on the table as a meaning of offering him as Mr. Gio’s meal.”

Sancalute didn’t believe it.

“You think I’m an idiot. Humans enjoy meals at a table. And Mr. Gio is a divinity that enjoys meals. I’ll be eaten. I’ll be crunched up and eaten. Save me. I have use.”

“We’re just at a table, so I set you down. This time, I think the one Mr. Gio wants advice from is Mr. Sancalute. It meant I should step aside.”

“You’re lying. I don’t want to be eaten, put me back up.”

“That’s not a lie. No, what kind of evil god is afraid of being set on a table...”

“This is inside Mr. Gio’s stomach. And this is a table. I’m going to be eaten. You liars—you said if I kept my promise you’d send me home, but you deceived me. A sense of betrayal is surging up.”

“Your vocabulary gets better by the day.”

At Juhyeon’s awkward expression, Gio sniveled on purpose and explained Sancalute’s condition.

“To Sancalute, my table seems like a dais where offerings are presented to a god. Because the table carries the history of things placed on it being eaten.”

“Does this need to get to the point of ‘history’? Besides, Mr. Sancalute has eaten with us at this table several times before, so it’s hard to understand why he’d be afraid now.”

“Back then, there was other food. He likely didn’t think his turn would come when there were so many foods far tastier than him. And we even gave him food. Since that was the meaning of permission to attend, he judged the probability of being eaten as low, thinking an invited guest wouldn’t be eaten.”

“I think divinities who enjoy play, if they’re going to live on Earth, should go back to common-sense education from the beginning. Their way of thinking is so strange I can’t keep up...”

Even so, she understood, somehow.

‘So this is what Mr. Yoo Seongun meant.’

As a curator, he had warned her again and again how different humans’ and mysteries’ ways of thinking were. Even if it was an action with no particular meaning to a human, it could be an enormous insult to a mystery, so he told her to watch their “rules” so she wouldn’t make a mistake.

‘If Mr. Gio hadn’t helped me, I’d have caused a disaster long ago.’

Feeling a little sheepish, Juhyeon stroked the snake’s head. She had a duty to raise this evil god who knew nothing and only had a worse temper. Speaking as if soothing him, she said,

“Try adapting a bit this time. Mr. Gio will never eat you, Mr. Sancalute. If it really looks like that’s going to happen, I’ll put you back on my neck.”

“Scary human... scary human...”

“I didn’t realize it was something you’d cry over.”

At the sight of the snake shedding pearl-like tears, Gio cut in.

“Crocodile tears.”

“Aha.”

It meant he had been trying to stir Juhyeon’s sympathy. She felt like, of course it was that, but she wasn’t particularly angry. She was only curious what kind of opinion Mr. Gio wanted to ask for.

“Something must have happened in the ‘Animal Kingdom’?”

“Ms. Juhyeon, my honorable friend. Please listen to my words.”

“It feels like your speech has grown rather archaic more than usual... but yes, well, I’ll listen for now.”

“So, I went to my hometown...”

After listening straight through Gio’s story, Juhyeon’s face twisted strangely.

“...”

“Why are you angry?”

“Mr. Gio, are you not angry even after being framed like that?”

Juhyeon understood the fox tribe’s position as well. With nothing left but death, what could they do? Even if the other party was an evil god, in desperation they would do their best at anything.

So what angered Juhyeon was the humans from before the fall who recorded “Argio” as the worst monster. What vile thing was that? Really?

“Ms. Juhyeon, you don’t even know what I actually did in the past.”

“Even if I don’t know, I do know something—we’ve spent time together.”

He didn’t know exactly what Argio had done, but he firmly believed Argio would not have done something like cannibalism. Argio was a pure divinity of wrath; he would not do such a base thing.

“Even objectively, I don’t think you would have bothered eating humans with nothing to eat. Even livestock are deliberately raised so you can harvest lots of meat, but humans don’t seem like they’d yield that much, generally speaking.”

“That’s right. I’m a gourmet.”

By the same logic, he had no intention of eating the foxes, who could shapeshift into humans, speak, and also had nothing to eat.

But for Argio, who had been happily enjoying the evil god’s ill repute deeply carved into history, it was also a difficult situation to make excuses in.

“It was obvious they would be afraid no matter what I said.”

It was too burdensome.

“It looked like their fear was so great that I tried to propose a deal to help them relax, but the moment they offered themselves as a living sacrifice and tried to make an offering, I panicked and ran away after only feeding them.”

“Even then, you still fed them—should I say that’s very like you, Mr. Gio. But in that situation, did you have something you could deal for with the fox tribe?”

“I planned to ask them to find someone. There was surely someone who called me in the ‘Animal Kingdom,’ but I could not find them. So I intended to borrow the strength of the residents there.”

“It feels rather unusual that Mr. Gio can’t find someone who called you. You always found people on Earth just fine—was there any reason?”

“It is, quite literally, difficult to pinpoint the location. The voice that called me was too faint, and perhaps because dungeonization is progressing, there are many twisted specifications here and there... If they called me one more time while I was in the ‘Animal Kingdom,’ I could notice it immediately, but as things stand, it’s difficult.”

“Could they... not be dead? I don’t want to think this, either, but the ‘Animal Kingdom’ you told me about is so chaotic and dangerous that I’m worried.”

“I don’t think they’re dead. Still, since it’s turned out like this, it seems there is no way other than going out and searching for them myself.”

There was a limit to Gio wandering that vast forest one by one, and he couldn’t do it because he worried what if he sent Dana and Honey alone and an accident happened.

The reason he’d entrusted Dana with collecting lost children was because he knew she would only pick out and verify souls.

‘That’s different from a full-scale exploration. It could be dangerous.’

Not only for his children who would have to cut through the Black Forest, but also for the Black Forest that would have to handle his children. Rather than making many people suffer, it would be something to receive help from residents accustomed to the Black Forest.

And while he was at it, wouldn’t it be wonderful to soothe the beasts who were anxious like the fox tribe?

“...”

Thinking that, Gio grew wronged once more.

“My children are afraid of me...”

“No, don’t cry.”

Juhyeon was losing it.

‘I’m really going to end up seeing an evil god cry twice in a single day.’

This absurd situation continued until Yoo Seongun visited Juhyeon’s house.

(To be continued in the next part)