My Dad Is a Popular Villain in a Comic Book - Chapter 4

On the second day of living in the hunting cabin, Albin, who had intended to cling to Zeman just like the day before, discovered that the man seemed to be intentionally avoiding him.

First thing in the morning, Zeman claimed he had to hunt in the forest. The resources in this border village were limited; the supplies they’d bought yesterday were mostly beans, grains, a few miscellaneous vegetables, and some cheese, with no meat in sight. Eating the bland chestnut porridge, Albin was indeed craving meat.

But “hunting” sounded dangerous. Zeman looked so frail how could he possibly be at ease? They were only staying here for three days; it wasn’t as if meat was a necessity. It felt more like an excuse.

“What if Mr. Zeman faints somewhere again?” he worried aloud.

“I will be fine.” Zeman gently patted his head. He refused to take Albin along, insisted on going out, and sternly warned him not to wander off. Albin couldn’t stop him and could only watch helplessly as he left.

Is he annoyed because I was clinging to him all yesterday? Or does he think I’d just be a burden even if I followed him?

“Hmph! When he comes back, I’m not talking to him either!”

He pouted and rolled around in the wheat straw, feeling that the man had been acting strange ever since he woke up this morning.

“If only I knew magic…”

The thought resurfaced, and he muttered to himself. Since this was a manga world with magic, as a character in it, he was highly likely to possess magical power! If so, why not start practicing now? Testing it out wouldn’t conflict with anything!

Albin’s eyes lit up. He sat up from the straw and looked down at his hands. What exactly is magical power? It should be similar to “Qi,” “Spiritual Energy,” or “Chakra” in other works, right? Mimicking what he had seen in anime, Albin closed his eyes and tried to sense the power within him. His breathing gradually steadied. After who knows how long just as he was about to fall asleep, he faintly felt something: a silver-white ribbon of light, flowing like a stream.

He opened his eyes in delight. “I do have magic!”

But then, the problem arose: without a temple to teach him, and without knowing the principles or classification of magic, how was he supposed to practice?

“Mr. Zeman…” He ran out of the cabin, subconsciously wanting to ask Zeman, who was a mage, but then remembered how the man was avoiding him. Hmph! Not asking him! Albin thought coldly. He would practice in secret and surprise him!

In his memory, magic required chanting, but when Zeman had healed him, there hadn’t been any chanting at all; that little “moon” of energy had released the magic directly. Albin sat on the wooden steps, bathed in the brilliant sun, feeling the fresh breeze, and tried to release the magic within himself, imitating that healing spell.

As he focused on practicing, a faint, weak call drifted up from behind him.

【So hungry…】

The green snake was weak to the point of collapse.

Last night, it had gone to persuade its new companion to join them, but the other party, refusing to accept the truth, had pierced it with demonic energy and crushed every one of its bones. Any ordinary monster would have died instantly from such power and injury, but it was different. It had more than one life, and it wasn’t so easy to die it just needed to shed its skin to revive.

The side effect was that it was now critically weak and in desperate need of food. Without a shred of demonic energy left, save for the tiny star pattern on its eyes, it looked no different from an ordinary animal even weaker. It was essentially indistinguishable from a blade of grass or a leaf. This had helped it luckily evade Zeman’s hunt for nearby monsters this morning.

It had anticipated that its new companion would kill it. After all, the companion had been the strongest weapon cultivated by the Temple, and as a monster, they were like fire and water; it wouldn’t be easy to gain his trust. That didn’t matter. It believed the truth would prove everything eventually. They were companions!

Companions could understand each other, but humans couldn’t humans couldn’t understand their pain.

However, before waiting for its new companion to come to his senses, it was starving to death. It had crawled for ages without finding a single scrap of prey. Zeman’s demonic aura was too terrifying; it had scared away all the ordinary animals and insects. There were only monster corpses left, and it would never eat the flesh of a fellow monster, so it could only starve.

Will I consume one of my lives just to starve to death? Even if I shed my skin, I’ll still need food to replenish my energy. The green snake felt despair.

【So hungry…】

The green snake writhed, gnawing on the turf. Its consciousness began to fade, and memories from childhood surfaced in its mind. A long, long time ago, it had been just such a weak, non-venomous, starving monster, filled only with hunger and hunted by humans.

It didn’t know if it was hallucinating from hunger, but it seemed to hear a young, childish voice.

“Are you talking?”

It wondered suspiciously, Did I have this line in my childhood flashbacks? Lacking the energy to think, it collapsed, gasping for breath, when suddenly it caught the scent of food. It saw a pea-sized piece of milky-white matter and snapped it up.

It’s cheese! After swallowing the cheese, it regained a tiny bit of strength.

“Do you want more?” the childish voice asked ahead.

【Yes! 】

It couldn’t care less if it was a hallucination; anyone who could understand it was a companion. It devoured the rest of the cheese, then buried its head into the softened black bread slices held out to it.

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

“Are you hurt?” A small hand gently stroked its injuries. “I’ll try to heal you, but I’ve only just started learning this, so it might not work.”

Although shedding its skin helped it survive, it couldn’t fully heal its injuries.

【Aww, thank you so much! 】 It was deeply moved by its companion’s kindness. Truly, only companions are truly healing in this world!

“Alright, here I go. If it feels weird, just tell me.”

【It’s fine, go ahead and practice on me! I’m not that easy to kill. 】

The small hand began to release magic, but it was incredibly faint clearly clumsy and inexperienced.

“It doesn’t seem to be working…” the voice said, sounding discouraged.

【No rush…】

Wait! A hand?

The green snake suddenly realized something was wrong. It lifted its head, clutching the bread, and saw the white-haired boy crouching before it, red eyes full of curiosity, earnestly trying to heal its wounds.

Plop

The soggy bread fell to the ground. The green snake was dumbfounded.

Wait… isn’t this the child whose flesh can alleviate the curse? Isn’t he supposed to be a human?

【You… why can you understand me? 】

Humans shouldn’t be able to… he must be guessing! He definitely can’t really understand!

“Huh? I don’t know either.”

Albin had come over after hearing the sound, only to find this starving little snake. He’d seen them at a classmate’s house before; they were emerald green snakes, non-venomous and popular pets, though hard to keep. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but after a quick exchange, he confirmed he could actually speak “Snake”!

Magic and Snake-speech? It reminded him of a magical work he’d seen in his past life. I’m a Parseltongue! (Certainty)

So cool!

He looked blank, but the green snake’s brain had stalled. Humans couldn’t understand monsters only monsters could. If the child could understand him, did that mean… this child was a monster, too?

Was he a companion?

If so, then wanting to eat his flesh meant eating a companion?

No, no, absolutely not! I can’t eat a companion!

To alleviate the curse, he needed the “medicine,” but the “medicine” had turned into a companion… The green snake’s mind was a chaotic mess, reflecting in its body as it writhed, tying itself into a knot.

“Wow, you have a skill like that? That’s amazing!” Albin clapped.

【What’s so great about that? I can even do backflips! 】

The green snake, having regained some strength, instinctively did a backflip. Only then did it realize what it was doing. Other monsters will laugh at me for such childish behavior! How embarrassing! It coiled its body and buried its head.

“Super cool! But is your wound, okay?” Albin carefully picked it up. “Don’t move around until it’s healed.”

【Don’t get so close! 】 The green snake flicked its tail against Albin’s palm, saying fiercely, 【Watch out or I’ll eat you! 】

It had originally come to eat his flesh, but now… it still wasn’t sure if the child was a monster.

Albin looked at its slender, small body, which barely occupied his palm, and blinked. He had only approached because he felt the creature was harmless. With a smile, he held out the soggy bread.

“Do you want to eat?”

【Yes…】

The green snake surrendered to the food.

Talking to a snake for the first time, Albin chatted with him enthusiastically: “My name is Albin, what’s yours?”

【I don’t have a name. Everyone just calls me ‘Snake’. 】

“There are so many green snakes in the world; it’s hard to tell you apart without a name…” Albin pondered for a moment. “Can I give you a name? Like a human name?”

A human-like name… Considering he might be a monster, the green snake reluctantly said: 【Suit yourself. 】

“Are you a girl? If you are, how about ‘Xiao Qing’?”

The name ‘Xiao Qing’ is a perfect match for a green snake, and I’m ‘Xiao Bai’ myself!

The green snake slapped his palm. 【I am a male snake. 】

“Oh, a boy…” Albin gave up on the previous idea. He looked at the snake’s appearance. “Your scales are beautiful. How about ‘Jade’?”

Looking at that sincere gaze, the green snake turned its head away.

【Jade… hmph, I guess it’s barely acceptable. 】

“Eh, you don’t like it?” he said, disappointed.

The green snake hurriedly added: 【I doubt you could think of anything better, so that’ll do. 】

“Yay, Jade!” Albin happily picked him up. “Can I keep you? If you’re going to starve here, why don’t you come with me? Mr. Zeman said he’d take me somewhere safe there’s sure to be food there.”

Of course, I have to keep a snake if I’m a Snake-speaker! Think of how cool that would be!

When Jade heard Zeman’s name, the fear of having been killed once surged up, and its snake body arched. Although Zeman was also its new companion and it had been mentally prepared for that death, it still felt terrified of that level of power. Jade was clear-headed if it appeared in front of Zeman now, and its revival was discovered, Zeman would absolutely kill it again and again until it could no longer revive. Unless… Zeman changed his mind and was willing to join the monster faction. But that would mean Albin, who stayed by Zeman’s side, would be in danger…

If both sides are companions, I don’t know who to help. Jade agonized over it. Whatever, they both seem fine for now. I’ll worry about it later.

It shook its small snake head and warned Albin: 【Don’t tell anyone about my existence. 】

Albin pouted. “Eh, why not?”

I wanted to show off to Mr. Zeman! He’d definitely be shocked!

【No! 】 Jade warned. 【Especially not to humans. And don’t just go near any weirdos! 】

Why is this child so clueless? If it wasn’t me, but some other monster, he would have been snatched away long ago.

Given the general fear of Snake-speakers in other works, Albin agreed it might be best to keep quiet. “Mr. Zeman has gone hunting; can you keep me company until he’s back? I want to practice using magic.”

【Fine. 】 Jade nodded reservedly. 【Go ahead and practice on me! 】

All monsters who can take human form are high-level monsters how does this cub have human form but not know how to use demonic energy? Let me, Lord Jade, give him some guidance! My demonic energy hasn’t recovered, so Zeman shouldn’t be able to notice.

Wait? Something’s wrong!

Mana… isn’t that exclusive to humans? If the child were a monster, he should only be able to use demonic energy. Although the forces were similar after all, humans and monsters shared the same origin the power used on it just now was clear and gentle, not at all like the turbid, violent demonic energy.

Jade was utterly bewildered as it underwent Albin’s magical massage.

Is this child… a human or a monster?

In the forest, Zeman stood surrounded by the charred corpses of many monsters. He looked at his hands, his expression as cold as frost.

Too much demonic energy output.

Either he couldn’t use it at all, or he couldn’t control the power after release; the demonic energy was constantly resisting him. Opposing the curse and controlling the energy was even harder than he’d imagined; he needed to strengthen his control. If he couldn’t suppress the curse, he was doomed.

Zeman couldn’t help but recall what the green snake had said last night. He didn’t need to rely on the flesh and blood of an innocent child to survive; using “medicine” to stay rational was just drinking poison to quench his thirst. Handing his reason over to others whether it was the “medicine” or the “curse” was equally pathetic. But as he was now, he could lose control at any moment; he could kill the child, or he could succumb to the temptation and drink the child’s blood.

Human nature could not be tested; the best way was for him to stay away from the child.

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. He glanced at the person walking into the forest—a cheerful-looking youth with golden slanted bangs, his attire exquisite and flamboyant, as if he were ready to go on stage at any moment.

The blond youth waved enthusiastically. “Yo, Zeman! I actually found you! The Sun Pope and you, the Saint, have disappeared without a word from Thorn City, and now there are reports of slaughtered villages and large-scale battles nearby. The people at your Sun Temple are searching like madmen.”

He sighed. “I happened to be in the area and saw you here with my precognition. What on earth happened?”

Zeman stared at him for a moment and said coldly, “You arrived just in time.”

“Hmm? You need my help?”

“You need my help?” The golden-haired youth’s eyes widened, and his voice rose in disbelief. “Are you really Zeman? Come on, tell me what was the first thing I said to you when we first met.”

Zeman remembered, of course. At that time, he was already the Saint of the Sun Temple, still believing in the Sun God, while the person in front of him was the Saint of the Love Temple, believing in the God of Love and Fate. Then, the person had said to him:

Yo, hello! I’m Edward. I have a premonition that you will become a great person, do something beyond imagination, so let’s be friends!

Since Zeman was the Saint chosen by the Sun God, the unshakable next Pope with an exalted status, the sentence was undoubtedly nonsense. But Zeman had believed it, falling for his trick, until he later discovered that Edward had said the same thing to several other people.

Zeman said icily, “A piece of stupid nonsense.”

Hearing his disdain, Edward waved his hand.

“Oh well, looks like you really are Zeman.” He raised an eyebrow, his tone turning serious. “Tell me, what is it? It’s rare for you to ask me for help. I’ll even accompany you if you want to go crazy and storm the Abyss again.”

What kind of difficult mission could have forced this Zeman to ask for help? Edward braced himself.

Zeman said calmly, “I need you to take care of a child for me.”

He could not stay by the child’s side, and Edward was the one he considered most suitable to protect him. From the beginning, he had set the destination as the Kingdom of Roses precisely because the Love Temple was there.

Huh? Edward was dumbfounded.