Chapter 96 (1/2)
A chill went down my spine. How long had it been since I received loyalty from someone? In the past, in the days when I was in Legless Bird. I had received this type of look from my younger siblings. It was an awe toward something beyond the concept of ‘a mere person.’ In addition, there was a firm confidence.
The frost orcs in front of me were no different from my younger siblings at that time. It was only possible because they were frost orcs who worshipped combat power.
[You have achieved a lasting achievement in Arkstar!]
[The title ‘One Who Inspires Awe in the Frost Orcs’ has been acquired.]
[The frost orcs will follow you in awe.]
[The new stat ‘Charisma’ has opened!]
“Charisma?”
I opened my status window and took a closer look at the charisma stat.
[Charisma (0): It is the power to master and command someone. The higher this stat, the easier it is to handle a group.
You will look more majestic to NPCs and users.
Every time you lead someone, it will automatically go up by a random number.]
It was more useful than I thought. It would be necessary one day to command people. If it was a stat that could help then it was obviously a good thing. Then Sven approached me. “Now I will treat this distinguished person as a chieftain. Chwiik.”
“I am very thankful.”
“The same goes for your companions.”
I saw Sven’s excited expression and asked, “First, can you tell me what you know about the position of the mother penguin?”
“Of course, follow me.”
I followed him along with my companions. We headed for a huge cave located at the back of the village. It was a labyrinth like the entrance we had come in. Kim Sujeong looked puzzled as the frost orcs became politer than before. “Their attitude is completely different.”
Gyeonso Dragon spoke with interested eyes, “I want to fight.”
However, Drain still seemed scared.
“Hiik!”
How could he touch leather while being scared of monsters like this? Was this being brave?
“Kwal.”
...Cer wasn’t scared. I almost burst out laughing when I saw the small body of the dog biting at the heels of the frost orcs. Pono was wandering around again to look for things to steal.
“That guy is still the same.”
Just then, Pono showed strange behaviour. “Coo~? Coo coo! Coo!!”
“What is it, Pono?” Kim Sujeong asked but Pono didn’t answer. He just stared somewhere for a moment. After a while, Pono started to rush over there.
“Ehh? Pono, where are you going?!”
“Coo~~!”
She tried to chase but Sven opened his mouth first, “Chwik. It’s fine. He is going to his mother.”
Going to his mother?
“Is the mother penguin here?”
“That’s right.”
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is frowning and becoming angry.]
[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is asking why she is here.]
[The firefly star, ‘Camille,’ is sighing with relief.]
The ones in the star cl.u.s.ter were angry and relieved. I naturally felt the same way. “Why did you kidnap her? If he finds out about this, you might be destroyed.”
“Kidnap? Kulalala!” Everyone was bewildered by Sven’s sudden laughter. Sven snorted and informed us, “We didn’t kidnap her. It was the mother penguin who came here.”
“She came here? Why?”
”Huhut. You’ll know when you go there. Chwik.”
I saw his mysterious smile and felt a strange sense of relief. It wasn’t kidnapping so it would be better to believe him. We were finally able to pass through the labyrinth and reached the end. Once I saw the mother penguin there, I was amazed. “Ah!”
I see. It was because of this. Why had I never thought of this?
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is grabbing his back and laughing.]
[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is laughing.]
[The firefly star, ‘Camille,’ is smiling at the mystery of life.]
“Mama~♡” Pono was in his mother’s arms. The mother penguin wearing a crown was swollen up. I looked at it and searched through my memories.
One day, Prometheus had a conversation with the ‘fourth apostle’ here. At that time, he had talked about the emperor penguin.
‘In fact, the emperor penguins are hermaphrodite.’
‘What? What does that mean?’
‘You are ignorant. It means they can have a baby on their own.’
That’s right—emperor penguins had children on their own every 10 years. At that time, their earlier child would be kept away in order to develop their independence. Of course, it was possible for the tundra dragon to look after the child. In any case, I had missed this... I still had a long way to go.
“Wow, what a big belly! Is she pregnant?”
“That's right. The emperor penguins are hermaphrodites. I had forgotten about this. They have children once every 10 years and this is the time.”
“It’s amazing. Then how did Pono get lost?”
I closed my mouth as I was about to say that it was to raise his independence. In fact, this didn’t matter. Now Pono had met his mother and his mother was smiling at him. I shrugged and smiled. “I don’t know.”
“Chwik. The misunderstanding seems to have been resolved.”
Sven approached from where he had been watching us in the rear. I looked at him and nodded slightly.
“Sorry for the misunderstanding.”
“Grruk. No, it is natural. In fact, I was going to show you to the mother even if we won the duel. I just hadn’t expected to lose. Kulalala!”
The mother penguin was listening to Pono and could be seen turning her head toward us. The next moment, a voice echoed in my head. Everyone heard the same voice.
[Thank you for saving my child.]
“Ehh? The mother penguin can talk! How amazing.”