Chapter 304: The Great Sea Serpent Zaratopu

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"Underling......?"

<<<Yes! I'm Zaratopu, a Great Sea Serpent from the Zi clan of the Dagei Trench!>>>

"I'm a traveler. Emi Rune......"

<<<Anego Emi Rune! Wow, what a lovely name! I'm 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?

I'm just confused.

"You were trying to eat me. But now you want to be my underling? Strange."

<<<Trying to eat you? I wasn't!>>>

"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......?"

<<<That's 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 don't dry and eat fish.>>>

Ah, yeah, I suppose that's 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! They're 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. There's a possibility that a common misunderstanding between different species is occurring here.>

Extra-sama said that with a sigh after hearing Zaratopu's 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, let's 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 wouldn't be strange for them to unintentionally sense the implied message of "If you don't give it to me, I'll 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?>>>

......Aren't 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 village's finances will collapse.>

"............"

I put my hand on my chin and thought.

I like Panemo Village.

I don't 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 can't act together, right......

And I...... am hungry.

"Alright, I got it."

<<<Huh? Got what?>>>

"I'll kill you and eat you. That solves everything."

I used both hands of my [Black Arms] to grab Zaratopu's neck.

If I can't beat it to death, I'll 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 can't keep my grip on it!

After a few minutes of struggle, Zaratopu eventually escaped into the sea.

But even after doing this, it still won't 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 Zaratopu's tail...... naturally severed itself!

The tail thrashes about on land, flapping and flapping!

This is...... autotomy!?

<Do sea serpents perform autotomy!?>

I don't 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! It's also a standard offering to higher-ranking members of the group!>>>

It feeds its own kind too......

<<<I've 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!>>>

Zaratopu's 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. There's a slight scent of a romantic comedy. Usually, the females around Zaratopu act high and mighty towards it, but actually...... something like that.>

I don't 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].

"............"

<<<What's wrong?>>>

Zaratopu's innocently shining eyes.

Seeing that, I lowered my prepared right hand powerlessly and sighed.

......On this day, I encountered a magical beast that I couldn't kill for the first time.