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Was it just height? His shoulders were broad, his legs long, and his arms thick. For some reason, the world felt unfair.
“Fuck... I bet he's big down there, too.”
“Huh?”
The friend following behind flinched and then chuckled. It wasn't that he didn't know why Robbie was acting that way.
However, instead of expressing inferiority by imagining the size of a man's genitals he had never seen, he began to imagine something else, as a drunk would.
“Oh, then maybe they're doing it right now?”
“...You crazy bastard.”
Robbie reflexively scolded his friend, but he unconsciously looked down at his own crotch. In the countryside, there isn't much to do once the sun sets. Even in this small village, it was basic for one house to have three or four children. Why?
“...That house has glass windows installed?”
“Whoa, fuck. Let's hurry.”
Naturally, the young men's pace quickened. Unfortunately, what the young men saw as they approached the window, rubbing their crotches, was a sight that completely betrayed their sleazy expectations.
Inside the house with the fireplace lit, a man and a woman sat facing each other at a small table, smiling. Between them were delicious-looking foods.
It was a scene that Auntie Laura would have called heartwarming and lovely, but curses flew from the young men's mouths.
“No, crazy... is that bastard a eunuch?”
“Why the hell are they still eating...”
Meanwhile, the faint blush on Iris's cheeks was visible. It was inevitable that Robbie's stomach twisted.
What he had always wanted was to be the one to make Iris's cheeks turn red. But her flushed smile belonged to another guy.
“Maybe they'll do it once they're done eating?”
Leaving the friend who was mindlessly muttering while crouching under the window, Robbie gnashed his teeth.
Originally, someone who loves another person unilaterally can see things about their crush better than anyone else, regardless of how sleazy or dirty those feelings might be.
And in Robbie's eyes, Iris's sparkling eyes were more visible than ever.
“Damn it...”
In the meantime, Rahan, who had his back turned toward them, seemed to glance outside, so the two hurriedly hid.
In fact, Rahan had vaguely realized they had been approaching for a while. Since the magical beast incident, he had always been paying attention to his energy perception.
However, since there was no threatening aura, he had simply kept a glancing eye on them, wondering if they were some punks who had come to steal crops from the garden.
Of course, he didn't bother telling Iris, who looked happy for once.
Anyway, because of that, Robbie was able to see Rahan's face faintly lit by the candlelight for a moment. He felt a surprising sense of defeat at that polished face.
For some reason, he also felt a sense of betrayal toward Iris. Of course, that betrayal was the common and messy kind where pathetic people mutter, 'She pretended to be so nice, but in the end, you're just a woman who judges others by their appearance,' so it wasn't something that needed to be analyzed.
Robbie grit his teeth and gripped the wall of the cabin again.
The problem was that something squishy was attached to that wall.
“Ugh.”
Robbie let out a low groan at the unpleasant, cold sensation touching his palm.
His friend, startled, crouched down and whispered.
“What?!”
When Robbie pulled his hand away, there was a large pink lizard flicking its tongue.
Robbie spat out a curse.
“Damn it. It's the lizard that the guy who's Iris's husband is raising.”
“Oh, I thought...”
If Robbie had any shred of reason, he would have noticed that the lizard was quite strange.
The lizard had strange feather-like things attached to it that Robbie had never seen in his life, and it was even pink.
And since Robbie had grabbed it with his hand, it should have been startled and run away, but instead, it just stared at Robbie as if protesting.
But Robbie had no room to think about such things.
“It looks really weird. What is this? It's the color of a raw chicken.”
He rubbed his hand on his trousers to shake off the unpleasant sensation and tried to grab the lizard to throw it into the bushes to vent his anger.
However, before Robbie could even seize it, the lizard flicked its tongue and spoke.
<Iiiit huuuurts. How cuuuuul.]
Robbie froze. The lizard... spoke? No way. I must have misheard because I'm drunk.
But the lizard muttered as if it didn't care about Robbie at all.
<Despite beiiing so incredibly uglyyy. To be ignored... even by such sleazy humaaans.>
“....”
“Robbie?”
His friend called him, sensing something strange. But Robbie couldn't answer.
<Even Leeeviathan... of the Underworld... is aaaall... dead.>
“Hey... can you hear this?”
“What?”
“This lizard... it's talking.”
“What?”
The friend looked at him as if he were bizarre.
“Didn't you drink too much?”
Cold sweat poured down Robbie's back. The lizard opened its eyes wide in surprise and looked up at him.
<Ohhh. Youuu... can hear my words?>
“Th-this...”
<How straaange. Well, I guess it's not impossible. Gulp, there are those... with good intuition... like you....>
The lizard—no, the axolotl's—eyes narrowed. Then it quickly crawled and stuck itself to Robbie's arm. Robbie gasped.
<Hmm. Hmmm. If you had been born just a little earlier, you could have become a worshiper of the great me.... But don't be toooo happy. Other than that, you're nothing special....>
The axolotl crawled up his arm as if enjoying itself. Thanks to the fact that a guy named Robbie was terrified after hearing its words, edible energies were flowing into the axolotl for the first time in a while.
Fear, shock, dread....
Being next to the monastery, and especially near the Sanctuary, it had been days where it felt drained just by saying a word. After feasting, its speech became quite fast.
<Ihihihi. If only my body were complete, I would have swallowed someone like you in one bite. Chomp.>
Robbie couldn't take it anymore.
“Aaaagh! It's a demon!”
Screaming loudly, he threw a tantrum, trying to shake the lizard off his arm.
The terrified friend backed away.
“Hey, are you crazy?!”
But in Robbie's mind, the two people inside the cabin no longer existed.
Terrified that this lizard, which was undoubtedly a magical beast, would swallow him, Robbie screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Get this, get this off me! Aaaagh! It's a magical beast! It's a demon! It's talking!”
The door swung open.
“What is it?”
Naturally, the one who came out was Rahan. Iris was also looking outside from behind Rahan with startled eyes.
Robbie's friend, startled by his own shock, fell on his backside and hurriedly made an excuse.
“I-I'm sorry! I was drinking with this guy Robbie and on the way home, uh, Robbie said he wanted to stop by and say hello to this house! Suddenly he seems to have lost his mind...”
It was an embarrassing situation even for a friend. Robbie had touched a lizard and suddenly started acting out.
He rambled on, making excuses that Robbie seemed to be acting out due to the alcohol.
Of course, there was no one present who would be fooled by such words. Rahan had known for a while that two people were approaching the house.
Iris didn't have energy perception as strong as Rahan's, but she knew clearly that this cabin wasn't in a location where village youths would just happen to stop by while drinking.
But this was not the situation to be questioning that.
“I-Iris! Get this off me! Please! It's a demon! A demon!”
Robbie, who was still in a frenzy because he couldn't shake off the axolotl, tried to cling to Iris while crying and wailing.
Unfortunately, before Robbie could reach Iris, he was kicked by Rahan.
“Are you crazy?”
“Ugh!”
Stopping a drunkard who reeked of alcohol from clinging to a woman was a piece of cake for Rahan.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, as Robbie tumbled away, the axolotl that had been clinging to his arm was also thrown a distance away. The axolotl, quickly hiding in the bushes, chuckled as if it were a great pity.
<Ihihi. What a waste. I was just about to enjoy a feast for the first time in a while.>
Rahan's eyes narrowed. That damn lizard must have played some trick on these drunks.
However, he couldn't ask the lizard. Robbie, who rolled around for a long time after that, finally calmed down after realizing the lizard had fallen off.
Then, he suddenly shouted.
“You bastard, I've got you now! You're in league with the demon!”
Rahan didn't need to bother denying it or getting angry. Because present there was Iris, who was clinging to Rahan's back and panting, bewildered and wondering what on earth was happening.
And the timing was too bad for Robbie.
It was only a moment ago that Iris had felt deeply sorry for Rahan, who was always called a demon. Iris's eyes immediately turned into sharp triangles.
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