Chapter 30
[…What’s going on now?]
[This is Louis vs. the Rain Dragons, Episode One!]
[I remember Louis caught a lot of fish, didn’t he? Where are the fish?]
[Fish? Yomi was about to be taken away! The moment he heard the commotion, he panicked and threw the fish right on the road!]
[Who wouldn’t panic in that situation? It’s only because Louis’s original form can fly that he was able to chase them back down. If Yomi had really been carried off by the rain dragons, who knows what would’ve happened? By the time the aircraft arrived, Mimi would already be inside a nest on the lava mountain. With that many dragons there, would the production team even dare get close?]
[Not necessarily. I’m a rain dragon enthusiast. With the kind of brains rain dragons have, they probably thought the shelter was one giant egg. They might even have been hoping a big dragon would hatch from inside it. If they really saw Yomi come out from it, they’d most likely raise him as their own baby…]
[Back to the point—a one-against-two fight doesn’t seem like a great bet, right? Louis should hurry and run off with Yomi!]
How could Ansius possibly run? If he didn’t kill these two rain dragons, that already counted as mercy on his part.
In the pouring rain, he held the capsule in his arms and launched a mad assault on the two rain dragons, slamming into them, kicking them, biting them, sending them tumbling through the air over and over again… After failing several times to avoid him, and seeing how recklessly fierce he was, the rain dragons had no choice but to release their hooks and fight back properly.
Thunder and lightning tore through the sky. The sounds of three giant creatures crashing into one another and battling in midair were even more terrifying than the thunder itself.
Inside the capsule, Yomi’s whole body had gone limp. His eyes were squeezed shut as he clutched the internal support point tightly.
Ansius, do your best.
The rain dragons had lost their new toy and originally wanted to recover their dignity, but the moment the fight truly began, they discovered that this opponent was nowhere near as easy to deal with as they had imagined.
One of the rain dragons had already had its head beaten until blood was showing, and when the other flapped its wings to go avenge it, it got beaten halfway there until feathers flew all over the sky…
At last, the two rain dragons realized one thing: this guy looked reckless, but he was not actually just attacking wildly without thought. Throughout the whole fight, he used skilled close-combat techniques, beating them until they no longer knew which way was up.
[So fierce! Louis looks really experienced in fighting!]
[Well, he was a mercenary. If he weren’t strong, how could he have earned enough money to become the number-one supporter?]
[His technique is incredible. I was originally afraid he’d lose out if he acted on impulse, but judging from things so far, the two rain dragons aren’t getting the upper hand on him at all!]
Ansius had originally intended to continue slaughtering them, but then he lowered his head and saw the shattered shelter on the ground below. Many of the things inside were now exposed and getting soaked by the rain…
The two rain dragons were still struggling to cope when the giant in front of them suddenly kicked them again. They let out a howl and hurriedly adjusted themselves in midair—only to find that the space in front of them was suddenly empty. The monster had abruptly dived downward, heading straight for that heap of wreckage.
After getting badly beaten, the rain dragons knew very well that this monster was not someone to provoke. Both his combat power and his intelligence were above theirs. The two rain dragons exchanged a glance and wisely flew off to hide in the distance, peeking back and secretly observing.
Watching the situation on the screen, the production team—who had already dispatched aircraft—finally let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, though, they were still tense on behalf of Louis and Yomi. The crisis had eased, but it was not completely over.
Afraid the rain dragons might launch a surprise attack on the guests, the production team sent out a little drone shaped like a small bird to track the two rain dragons.
A small split-screen frame immediately appeared on the livestream, showing the two rain dragons huddled together, whispering and looking suspicious.
The audience watched in equal parts fear and anxiety, wishing they could run over to Louis and Yomi in person to tell them that those two rain dragons were still watching them!
Their fear was understandable. It was like in real life: if an ordinary person saw two full-grown tigers secretly watching people from behind distant trees through a surveillance monitor, they too would be scared stiff.
Unfortunately, most of the viewers currently watching the livestream only had a very superficial understanding of rain dragons. They could not tell what this behavior meant, nor could they, like experts who studied rain dragons, analyze the meaning behind the dragons’ rumbling sounds.
Behind the giant tree on the hillside—
The two young rain dragons licked each other’s wounds, muttering in low, bubbling sounds that only they themselves could understand:
“That baby is amazing. It gave birth to itself. It looked so tiny and so springy!”
“No, I hatched it!”
“No, I hatched it! At the time, it was under my butt! The moment I pushed, I saw it come out…”
“Want it, want to feed it, want to raise it!”
“That horned monster is so bad. It stole our baby!”
“…Wait for the chance!”
The heavy rain continued without stopping.
On the ground, the shattered shelter looked like the wreckage left after a disaster, and large amounts of rainwater were pouring inside.
Holding the capsule that protected Yomi, Ansius set it down at his feet the moment he landed, then bent down and began rummaging through the wreckage. Very quickly, he rescued a pile of clothes—half wet and half dry. Afraid they would soak the inside of the capsule room, he piled them all on top of the capsule instead.
When Yomi opened the door of the capsule room, Ansius had found the deck of playing cards. Half the cards were wet, but they could still be used. He wiped them off and tucked them into the capsule room to keep them from the rain. Then he crouched again and kept digging through the rubble for the uneaten wild fruit.
Most of the fruit had already been smashed, but Ansius picked up every last one.
Watching his back in the curtain of rain, Yomi gradually came back to himself after the shock of everything that had just happened. He walked out of the capsule too and began picking through the daily necessities in the wreckage. But when he lifted up the little pot covered in mud and then turned his head to see Ansius still pawing frantically through the gaps, searching for fruit, even picking up the ones that had been crushed—
“Stop picking them up.” Yomi drew in a breath and forced himself to sound light. “Those can’t be eaten anymore. And we can’t live here now either… But it’s okay. We still have the stone cave.”
The moment the monster saw him standing out in the rain, he reached over and picked him up, placing him back into the capsule. “Don’t come out. You’ll get sick.”
Yomi froze. The monster immediately went back to work again. He washed the unbroken fruit and placed them into the little pot Yomi was holding, while shoving the split and smashed fruit into his own mouth and continuing to search for useful household items.
Inside the capsule, Yomi held the little pot, his eyes turning red.
He stared for a while, and in the end still could not hold back. With a soft plop, a teardrop quietly fell into the pot, completely drowned out by the roar of the rain.
[Don’t cry, Teacher Mimi! I work in construction—I’m packing my bags right now and heading for Leia Continent to build you a house!]
[Wuwuwu, poor Mimi. My original form is a snail. Production team, just air-drop me over there, I want to be Mimi’s house!]
[I can’t take it anymore. Tears streaming down this old face…]
In front of the wreckage, Ansius had just lifted a stone and was searching beneath it when he suddenly heard a very faint sob. He whirled around sharply and saw the little person inside the capsule wiping away tears.
The monster froze. He no longer cared about the wreckage at all. He came over, found a handkerchief, and wiped Yomi’s face, then bent over awkwardly and helplessly to look at him.
Yomi had already stopped crying. When he saw Ansius come over, he forgot the difference in their sizes for a moment and instinctively invited him to come inside and take shelter from the rain.
“……”
Perhaps in order to comfort him, Ansius actually lowered his head and tried to squeeze into the capsule. The result was that only his head could fit inside. If he moved any farther, he would crush the little person.
Yomi finally reacted, and the sight made him both amused and helpless. His sadness had already drained out of his body together with those few tears. Pointing at the remaining everyday items in front of them, he said, “There’s still so much usable stuff left. We’re actually pretty lucky… Come on, let’s go back to the stone cave.”
The monster looked at him for a while, then nodded.
And so, carrying Yomi inside the capsule together with the usable items from the shelter, Ansius headed back. He did not go straight to the stone cave first. Instead, he detoured toward the riverbank where he had first caught fish and found the sack of fish he had thrown down there earlier. He filled it to the brim and then finally returned to the original stone cave.
Once they entered the cave, Yomi immediately came out of the capsule. Holding the bedsheet from the capsule room in his hands, he intended to use it as a towel for Ansius. “Hurry and dry yourself off.”
Ansius did not use it. He gestured for Yomi to stand behind the capsule, then walked to the tree outside the cave entrance and shook himself rapidly, just like a beast drenched by rain. In an instant, water droplets flew everywhere. Even the capsule, with its door closed, was now covered with a layer of droplets.
Yomi watched curiously. When Ansius came back in after shaking off the water, Yomi walked up to him and asked, “Wouldn’t it still be better to dry yourself a little more?”
Ansius shook his head and went to the side to start a fire.
On such a damp rainy day, getting a fire started was not easy. Ansius struggled for a long while, but after finally managing to coax out sparks, he turned and saw that Yomi over to the side had begun smiling.
Ansius had been in a taut, tense state the entire time, and the moment he saw that smile, something softened in his heart. He reached out and picked Yomi up, carrying him over to the fire to warm him, while at the same time checking him for injuries.
“I’m not hurt. I’m perfectly fine.” Though he had been terrified out of his mind, seeing how anxious Ansius looked instead made him calm down. “It’s okay, Louis. Don’t be scared.”
Even though the one who had been most afraid back then was clearly him.
Ansius lowered his blood-red eyes, leaned in, and blew softly at Yomi’s still-damp short hair.
Like a low-powered hair dryer, Yomi thought, finding it a little funny.
Then his heart turned a little sour. Compared to this world, he really was too small. Even a dinosaur could bundle him up together with his home and carry him away…
But that dejected mood lasted less than a few minutes before it vanished again. Yomi knew that at a time like this, someone had to be the pillar holding things up. He wiped his face with his overly long sleeves, went to get the little pot, and brought it back to Ansius. Inside it were the few little wild fruits that had “survived.” He held them out to him. “Do you want some fruit? We should get some vitamins in us. We’re both still growing, after all.”
“……”
[…Teacher Mimi!]
[Yomi isn’t wrong, though. Snaran only finish growing after the age of twenty-five. I remember Louis is only twenty.]
On camera, the monster went silent for several seconds before finally reacting. But instead of taking the fruit being offered, he suddenly opened his mouth and took one of Yomi’s little ram horns into it!
Yomi: “!”
His teeth even seemed to gently nibble at it, and in the next moment, a claw reached over and softly rubbed Yomi’s head in a gesture of comfort.
In the loud drumming of the rain, Yomi shrank his body within the monster’s shadow and asked in a small voice, “Louis, are you calcium deficient? Then tomorrow let’s eat some ribs…”
“……”
[Pfft… I’m dying of laughter]
[Louis really does want to eat people, doesn’t he? Absolutely, right?]
[Experts say rainy weather can affect a person’s emotions, so they might behave in unusual ways…]
[Aaaahhh the person above is absolutely a spy sent here by Louis!]
[Hehe, feelings that go through hardship together are the most precious! Router, do your best!]
[What on earth is ‘Router’? Please don’t give them weird CP names like that! I vote for YiMi!]
[Heh, once the show ends, that’s when your dreams will wake up. Teacher Mimi is destined never to be with Louis. He’ll definitely find someone more suitable. The size difference is right there—an ironclad fact!]
[Then let the show continue forever, I guess. [smirk]]
…
During the time Ansius had gone out, his harvest had actually been quite abundant. He had caught a lot of fish. Though not enough to fill the whole sack, it was absolutely enough for the two of them to eat.
Most of the fish had clearly died by Ansius’s sharp claws, with bloody holes puncturing their bodies. But there were also several that had been caught alive and were still flapping their tails around.
Ansius filled the bucket from the shelter with water and put those live fish inside to keep them.
By this point, Yomi had rested enough by the fire. Seeing Ansius busy over there, he also grabbed his knife and walked over, crouching beside the dead fish to start scaling them. The fish before him were big and fat, and just as he was wondering where to start, his body was lifted up again.
“I want to scale the fish,” Yomi said seriously, looking at Ansius, who had just picked him up and was clearly intending to move him away.
He had cried not long ago and did not realize that his eyes had already swollen. His eyes were big, and his pupils were an especially clear black. The swollen lids didn’t make his eyes look smaller. Instead, they gave them a soft look, as if he were on the verge of tears even though he no longer had any negative feelings inside at all.
“The fish scales will hurt you.” Ansius set him down by the fire. After seeing his swollen eyes, he seemed to think he was feeling wronged, and rubbed one of his own large horns against Yomi’s little horn. “You take care of the firewood.”
Once he had been given a job to do, Yomi stayed by the fire and no longer went anywhere. He watched the flames, tossing in a small branch every now and then, and from time to time would turn back to look at the busy Ansius at the cave entrance.
Before scaling the fish, Ansius used the spare branches left over from making the door to build a drying rack inside the cave, and hung up Yomi’s half-damp clothes there.
After dealing with the fish, he placed them over the fire to roast. While doing so, he also made Yomi a pot of fish soup.
They had brought back a little milk pot from the shelter, and that was what Ansius used. Yomi thought the pot was too small and surely wouldn’t be enough for Ansius, so he suggested changing to a bigger one.
Ansius shook his head. “I’m not drinking.”
In Yomi’s memory, Ansius really wasn’t someone who loved soup very much, so he didn’t argue any further.
The tempting aroma slowly drifted up from the fire, growing stronger and stronger, so fragrant that Yomi felt he could hardly bear it. He hadn’t eaten a real meal all day, only wild fruit, and now that he smelled the rich scent of fish, even his stomach was being lured into growling.
Ansius looked toward his stomach.
It still wasn’t fully cooked yet. With a red face, Yomi covered his stomach and smiled awkwardly at him.
Ansius flipped the fish over. This side was already roasted to a deeply golden crisp. Using the chopsticks he had made himself, he picked off some fish meat onto a clean leaf and handed it to Yomi.
Yomi took a bite. Fragrant! So fragrant he nearly wanted to jump up on the spot! It was unbelievably delicious. Even without seasoning, it was so good it almost defied reason!
Once the grilled fish was finished, the two of them finally sat down to eat—this was the first truly formal meal they had had all day.
Ansius only ate the grilled fish. But before starting, he seemed to think of something. He suddenly rose and went outside, carrying back a flat stone, which he placed before Yomi as a dining table.
After all, Yomi still had soup to drink.
Looking at his tiny little dining table, Yomi grinned. In the wilderness, this could already be called a very lavish meal! He had grilled fish plated with a few mint leaves, a fragrant pot of fish soup, and one little green fruit placed on the side as decoration.
There was food, soup, and fruit—everything was there.
The fish here were very large. Yomi was already full after just one grilled fish, and he couldn’t finish the soup, leaving almost half the little pot behind.
So stuffed that he could hardly move, Yomi wandered back and forth in the cave. He pulled out a few damp objects and laid them on stones near the fire to dry. When he turned around, he unexpectedly saw Ansius—the one who had insisted he wasn’t drinking soup—pick up the half-pot of soup Yomi had left behind and drain it in one gulp.
Yomi immediately turned away toward the fire and pretended he hadn’t seen a thing.
He felt far too embarrassed. If he’d known Ansius had only been being polite, he would’ve served him a bowl in advance. Just the thought of the Crown Prince eating his leftovers made him feel awkward to the extreme.
Part of the cave had also been affected by the storm, and the hay had gotten wet. Fortunately, the capsule remained dry inside.
Before nightfall, Ansius threw all the food scraps deep into the distant forest so that the mangy leopard wouldn’t follow the smell over in the middle of the night. Naturally, during the whole process, he placed Yomi inside the capsule room and carried the entire capsule room out together with him—the enormous shadow left by the rain dragons had made him especially cautious now.
Not long after he returned from throwing away the scraps, the sky went dark.
Nights on Leia Continent were already cold to begin with, and this storm only made things worse.
The cave was damp. Looking out at the black night beyond, the monster’s eyes darkened even further. Afraid the little person might catch cold, he went over and warmed his whole body thoroughly by the fire. Once he had confirmed that his body was no longer damp, he put out the fire and then finally returned to the sleeping area. One wing slipped into the capsule room, and under Yomi’s astonished gaze, he used that wing as a blanket, covering him up completely.
His enormous body then curled itself in front of the capsule room, blocking the wind for him.
“…Louis.” Trapped inside by him, unable to come out, Yomi hugged the wing and gave it a little shake. “I’m not cold. Thank you, but you’ll be uncomfortable like this.”
“Very comfortable,” Ansius said in an even tone.
Yomi’s cheeks turned rosy. He curled up inside there and looked at him. Seeing that Ansius absolutely refused to pull back his wing, he asked, “Are you cold?”
Ansius shook his head. “I’m not afraid of the cold.”
When he was younger, he had once stayed alone for an entire month on a freezing ice plain.
Yomi reached over and touched the base of his wing, and Ansius shivered.
Only after confirming that he was still warm did Yomi pull himself back under the blanket. “If you start feeling uncomfortable, you have to tell me.”
“…Mm.”
[Hahaha, such a tiny little thing, and he’s worrying about someone else’s war-god constitution!]
[You’re not allowed to laugh at Teacher Mimi!]
[I have already reported to the production team that Louis is secretly using Mimi for indirect kissing. I strongly hope they punish him severely and replace him with me as emergency backup! ]
[In your dreams!]
What had happened during the day felt almost like a dream—it had been far too dangerous and exciting. Yomi couldn’t fall asleep, and Ansius, who was holding Yomi in his wing, couldn’t sleep either.
And so, after a while, quiet whispers began to echo in the pitch-black stone cave.
Yomi: “Are you asleep?”
Ansius: “No.”
Yomi: “Then… how come there are dinosaurs here?”
“They’re rain dragons.”
After saying that, Ansius began telling him everything he knew about rain dragons. His voice was low, and his tone slow and gentle, almost as if he were telling a bedtime story.
Once Yomi heard that rain dragons would only appear here on rainy days, he wasn’t nearly as afraid anymore. Instead, he became full of questions. Like a curious child, he asked, “Will the rain dragons come back for revenge on us?”
The monster paused, and his tone turned cold and murderous. “If they dare come back, then tomorrow we’ll eat grilled rain dragon.”
“……” Slowly, Yomi smiled. Thinking of the scene of Ansius beating up the rain dragons, he felt reassured and turned over in bed. “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow, and that the rain dragons just go home.”
[So cute. I came here for Mark, but now I’m becoming a fan of Yomi instead!]
[Wuwuwu, he was almost carried off by rain dragons and he’s still hoping they’ll go home!]
[Yomi, Louis, good night. I hope everything goes smoothly for you from here on.]
…
One night passed. It’s Okay to Be Different had reached the fourth day of streaming and the third day of the survival portion with partners.
Its popularity remained sky-high.
[Teacher Mimi, I’m here! Good morning, my little darling!]
[Let me see—what has Yomi run into today?]
[Oh dear, Mimi’s awake, but why does his little back look so tragic?]
[Obviously, Teacher Mimi is worrying about the rain dragon problem!]
That was right. The very first thing Yomi did after waking up was look outside the cave. Unfortunately, it was still raining outside, though the rain had lessened a great deal…
Standing at the cave entrance, the little person let out a long, sorrowful sigh, then turned around and went back over to Ansius’s side to warm himself by the fire.
Breakfast was the few live fish they had left from yesterday. Ansius’s fish-roasting skills were even better than the day before. This time, the fish was crisp outside and tender inside, not burnt in the slightest, and Yomi kept giving him thumbs up! After finishing the delicious plain grilled fish, all the little bit of sorrow in his heart vanished, and Yomi became a lively, spirited human being all over again!
After breakfast, the two of them stayed in the cave playing cards, living as comfortably as possible!
While they played, Yomi would also chat with Ansius—but not by asking about his personal life the way one talks about family matters. He was afraid he might accidentally say something wrong, so all he asked about were things related to Leia Continent, like all sorts of questions about the rain dragons. After getting the answers, he quietly built up a rain-dragon knowledge base in his own mind.
By noon, the rain had become much lighter, turning into a fine mist.
Ansius glanced at the sky and prepared to go out and catch fish.
This time, he brought Yomi along—but in a way Yomi had not expected. He put Yomi inside the capsule room, then wove the sturdy vines growing along the rock wall into a net around the capsule, and finally used those vines to carry the capsule on his back.
Yomi, who had thought they were going to catch fish together: “……”
[It’s obvious Louis now has lost-Mimi PTSD]
[A miserable old father and his fragile child…]
[Hahaha, even though it’s funny, this really is the reassuring choice, right? The rain dragons are still around. Leaving Yomi in the cave would be way too dangerous!]
[Support Louis! Scientific Mimi transport!]
As Ansius walked forward, the capsule room swayed lightly from side to side. Yomi felt as though he were riding in a sedan chair. At first he found it amusing, but before long, his brows drew together tightly and he sat stiffly without moving.
In order to be at least a little useful, Yomi opened the door of the capsule room just a crack. That way he wouldn’t fall out, but he could still see the scenery behind Ansius and also keep watch in case some wild beast launched a sneak attack from the rear.
He quietly assigned himself the role of scout, to keep Ansius from being caught between enemies front and back.
And at this very moment, at the far end of Yomi’s sight…
Two rain dragons appeared!
Not long before that, however, the audience in the livestream had discovered that a new split-screen box labeled Expert Commentary had appeared in the lower left corner—
“Good morning, viewers! This is the It’s Okay to Be Different livestream room. I’m sure everyone has already seen yesterday’s footage: rain dragons have appeared on Leia Continent. Rain dragons are among the more intelligent beasts of Sna Planet. Many people even believe that in the future, rain dragons may evolve human forms… In order to give everyone a better viewing experience, we’ve specially invited Professor XX, a senior expert who has studied rain dragons for over a hundred years, to interpret their behavior and language for us…”
After briefly introducing himself, the expert smiled at the camera and said, “Rain dragons are the kind of dinosaurs who are violent to outsiders but gentle within their own group. They live communally, and on rainy days they like to take short trips. Seen that way, they’re rather romantic…”
But in the very next moment, when the expert looked at the Leia Continent livestream, his expression slowly began to change.
On the screen, the two rain dragons were quietly tailing Ansius…
More specifically, they were tailing the capsule room on his back!
Inside the capsule, Yomi was just about to speak and warn him when Ansius sharply sensed that something was approaching. He turned around at once, glaring at the rain dragons sneaking up in the distance. His eyes turned red and he bared his teeth in an attacking posture.
One of the rain dragons still looked eager to move forward, but the other one was obviously smarter. It quickly bit the first one’s tail, gave a low sound, then turned and urged it to leave.
Ansius let out a thunderous roar and charged after them in a sprint. Only then did the two casually lingering rain dragons panic and speed up. As they flew away, they turned back to look at the little face inside the capsule room, howling loudly.
On the screen, the host asked, “Is that a show of defiance? I didn’t expect rain dragons to hold grudges like that.”
“…No.” Because this was a live broadcast, the expert had to dutifully translate, even while wiping sweat from his forehead. “The rain dragon that bit its companion’s tail was saying, ‘The odds of winning aren’t good.’ And indeed, they cannot currently defeat Louis, whose combat power and intelligence are both above theirs. From that, we can also see that rain dragons are not mindless brutes. As for what the two rain dragons said when they were leaving, it should… probably… maybe… be something like: ‘Little baby, you’re so pretty. We’ll come back for you very soon.’”
The barrage exploded.
[???]
[I’m speechless. This has to be nonsense, right?]
[What kind of so-called expert is this? I’d rather die than believe it!]
[Um, I’ve studied rain-dragon language systems too. I only came to watch the livestream because I heard rain dragons might appear here. What the expert said is true… Honestly, I was dumbfounded hearing it too…]
[Huh?]
[This twisted love!]
Update Posting Schedule: Starting next chapter, posting schedule change from posting every day to 3 chapters every Saturday~
