The Great Sea Serpent Zaratopu
* * *
Underling?
<<<Yes! Im Zaratopu, a Great Sea Serpent from the Zi clan of the Dagei Trench!>>>
Im a traveler. Emi Rune
<<<Anego Emi Rune! Wow, what a lovely name! Im inexperienced, but please take care of me from now on!>>>
No, no, no wait, wait, wait
While wriggling its huge body and shining its unexpectedly round and cute eyes, the Great Sea Serpent who introduced itself as Zaratopu is staring at me.
What is this development?
Im just confused.
You were trying to eat me. But now you want to be my underling? Strange.
<<<Trying to eat you? I wasnt!>>>
You opened your mouth and approached.
<<<Ah, that was, that! I just misunderstood and thought you were going to give me that thing on your waist!>>>
?
That thing on my waist?
What I have tied around my waist is
<The bag of souvenirs we got from the village chief, right?>
In other words, dried fish?
<<<Thats right! That, that, Himono!>>>
Zaratopu let out a cheerful Pyurururu cry and continued its Telepathy.
<<<Recently, I met a human living near the beach! At that time, the human, while trembling, gave me that food called Himono! It was shockingly delicious. After all, we marine creatures basically dont dry and eat fish.>>>
Ah, yeah, I suppose thats true.
Ignoring my ongoing confusion, Zaratopu dreamily moistens its eyes as if recalling the taste at that time, and wriggles again.
<<<When I said I want to eat more at that time, the humans started delivering Himono to me regularly since then! Theyre really good humans! So I mistook you for one of the humans who came to deliver Himono I apologize!>>>
Saying that, Zaratopu bowed its head.
<Hmm, I see. Theres a possibility that a common misunderstanding between different species is occurring here.>
Extra-sama said that with a sigh after hearing Zaratopus story.
Misunderstanding?
<First, this idiot is mistakenly thinking that the humans probably the residents of Panemo Village, are kindly sharing dried fish with it out of goodwill.>
Yeah.
<On the other hand, lets think from the villagers perspective. If one day, you suddenly encounter a giant monster and it demands I want to eat more dried fish? It wouldnt be strange for them to unintentionally sense the implied message of If you dont give it to me, Ill rampage and feel terror.>
Ah, I see.
Hey, you. How much dried fish are you getting from the villagers?
<<<I get it once a week! The amount is in terms of human bodies a lot?>>>
Arent the villagers pushing themselves quite a bit for this?
<They are pushing themselves. The village chief was complaining about the tax collector and trying to keep it hidden, but at this rate, that villages finances will collapse.>
I put my hand on my chin and thought.
I like Panemo Village.
I dont approve of the villagers suffering because of this stupid situation.
On the other hand, the giant idiot in front of me, the root cause, has started to admire me for some reason and wants to become my underling
What the heck is an underling?
Even if a marine creature becomes the underling of a land creature, we cant act together, right
And I am hungry.
Alright, I got it.
<<<Huh? Got what?>>>
Ill kill you and eat you. That solves everything.
I used both hands of my Black Arms to grab Zaratopus neck.
If I cant beat it to death, Ill strangle it!
<<<H-Hieeeeh!? A-Anego! Please stop!>>>
However, Zaratopu started resisting by secreting some slimy body fluid from its entire body!
Ugh Its body is slippery like an eel, and I cant keep my grip on it!
After a few minutes of struggle, Zaratopu eventually escaped into the sea.
But even after doing this, it still wont leave me alone.
<<<Ah, Anego are you hungry?>>>
Timidly poking its face out of the sea, Zaratopu stares at me.
<<<Then, please accept this!>>>
And after saying that, Zaratopu placed the tip of its long, long body its flattened tail on top of the cape.
Pyuruuuuu!!
Zaratopu let out another shout, putting its spirit into it.
Then Zaratopus tail naturally severed itself!
The tail thrashes about on land, flapping and flapping!
This is autotomy!?
<Do sea serpents perform autotomy!?>
I dont know about sea serpents, but Great Sea Serpents do, I suppose.
In fact, it just did it right in front of us.
<<<Now, please eat without hesitation! The tail of a Great Sea Serpent is made to be the most delicious meat in its body to attract the attention of enemies! Its also a standard offering to higher-ranking members of the group!>>>
It feeds its own kind too
<<<Ive offered my tail to various opponents before! To excellent sisters-in-law, and to the daughter of my childhood friend who is the clan leader so really, no need to hold back!>>>
Zaratopus eyes were still sparkling as it spoke, but around the part where it mentioned its sister-in-law and childhood friend, the sparkle in its eyes seemed to cloud a little.
This guy
This guy must have had various hardships within its group
Its overly humble attitude may also be related to that.
<The examples it gave were all females. Theres a slight scent of a romantic comedy. Usually, the females around Zaratopu act high and mighty towards it, but actually something like that.>
I dont want to see a romantic comedy about Great Sea Serpents
<<<Come on! Go ahead, go ahead!>>>
Saying that, despite almost being killed by me, Zaratopu approached me again without caution and wriggled happily.
If it gets this close, I could probably sever its neck using Great Mantis.
<<<Whats wrong?>>>
Zaratopus innocently shining eyes.
Seeing that, I lowered my prepared right hand powerlessly and sighed.
On this day, I encountered a magical beast that I couldnt kill for the first time.