Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 142: Fabre in the Four Heavenly Houses

“Wow! This little guy is being taken care of directly!?”

As I carefully cleaned the newborn and gently placed it beside Seol, she began licking her tired baby’s face.

Even though I had wiped it down, it was instinctual for the mother to lick her young to remove any foreign substances, like the remains of the amniotic sac.

Like the Girdle Tailed Armadillo Lizard that lives with family amidst barren rocks or the Solomon Islands Skink that cares for its young for half a year to a year, I realized that Seol and Bin were the kind of lizards that would look after their hatchlings, unlike other lizards that become independent immediately after birth.

After all, most lizards are born looking identical to their mothers and can start foraging right away.

But licking up the amniotic fluid or cleaning up after birth? That’s generally more typical of mammals that raise their young directly, leading me to conclude that the probability of these two caring for their offspring was quite high.

– Hm?

Seol, while licking her baby’s face, seemed to be desperately trying to appeal to the hatchling as its mother.

Or perhaps she was in the process of imprinting her voice onto the newborn.

In response to her sounds, the little one also chirped back adorably.

– Peep,

It was almost as if they were having a conversation.

As I watched the two with a warm expression and turned away, my gaze fell upon Bin, who was staring at the scene in front of her with a dazed look.

“Oh, I need to check on the parenting style too.”

The idea floated into my mind as I observed Bin’s bewildered expression.

I knew that the mother was nurturing, but the next crucial factor was understanding how they were parenting.

In nature, various forms of upbringing exist.

There are those where only the mother, only the father, or even both participate in raising younglings.

Therefore, I absolutely had to confirm this.

Based on how Seol was licking the young one, it was almost certain that the mother was involved in nurturing, but if it was solely her, then Bin might get kicked out until the hatchling grew up.

That meant Bin could potentially be driven away by Seol.

“I’m sorry, Bin, but it’s a natural sequence. If not, you might just end up taking a few hits from Seol. This is instinctual, and there’s nothing I can do.”

I gently nudged the bewildered Bin closer to where Seol and the hatchling were.

I needed to confirm the parenting style, and what’s better than being the one who gets hit first, right?

– Uh?

Bin looked at me nervously as I pushed her butt towards the baby, and thankfully, Bin quickly caught on and began licking the opposite cheek of the hatchling alongside Seol.

Now was the crucial moment that would determine Bin’s fate.

If it wasn’t cooperative parenting, then Bin would probably take a beating from Seol for touching the young one.

“Oh! This is good, right?”

After a brief wait with no significant reaction from Seol, it seemed like everything was fine.

Since Seol didn’t stop Bin from licking, this must be cooperative parenting.

Now, Bin and Seol both began to lick the newly born hatchling from either side.

A parenting style with cooperative upbringing.

It was the best combination possible.

“Alright! Cooperative parenting!”

It seemed like Seol and Bin had the most ideal form of parenting.

Relieved that there would be no problems in raising them from now on, I watched the three, who had transformed into a happy family.

After a while of licking the young one, Seol and Bin finally stopped, and that was when Seol-Bing Jr. opened its eyes for the first time and began to take in its surroundings.

As the little one’s sparkling black eyes reflected Seol, Bin, and finally me and Hua Eun, the two women couldn’t contain their excitement and began to exclaim.

“Oh my gosh! How can it be this cute? It’s like a mini version of Seol and Bin!”

“It’s so pretty! I think it’s the cutest creature I’ve ever seen!”

Even I, a man, thought it was incredibly cute, so how adorable would it be for Hua Eun or Seol?

Both were reaching out toward the hatchling almost like they were entranced.

“Be careful, both of you.”

But caution was needed.

Newborn lizards tend to be wild.

In my previous life, domesticated leopard geckos or crested geckos were quite tame, but for a while after birth, they were usually very aggressive.

That was likely due to their wild nature and not being tamed by human hands.

– Peep!

I figured Seol and Bin’s hatchling would probably behave similarly, and indeed, when Seol’s sister reached out her finger, the little one bit down hard on it.

Seol’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared at me.

“Are you alright, Seol-sister?”

Seol and Bin are known to have strange poison called Bingdok.

It wasn’t lethal to humans, but I was slightly worried if the hatchling also bore any venom.

To my question, Seol replied with a dazed expression.

“I got bitten, but it feels… happy.”

The hatchling seemed confused, its big eyes widening even further at Seol’s response.

It had bitten down in a scolding manner, but the joy it evoked was something incomprehensible to a newborn.

This situation was the first I’d seen of someone so happy after being bitten by a lizard.

Secreting my voice, I shared a big secret that people like us would enjoy.

“Seol-sister, in this case, you don’t say you got bitten. We have a special way of putting it.”

“What do you mean? Is there a term that expresses this happy feeling?”

The hatchling still clung onto Seol’s finger, and I indicated that it was a term we used.

“For us, we say we’ve been ‘Chosen’.”

“Chosen!?”

“Yes, it’s an expression that means it has shown special interest in me or something like that.”

Typically, when someone adopted a pet, they would say they were chosen if the creature came running towards them, was friendly, or even bit them.

Upon hearing this, Seol’s eyes widened.

“Chosen… So it was really a choice…”

I wasn’t giving Seol the hatchling, but just mentioning that she had been ‘Chosen’ made her shudder in excitement.

As expected, she had a fondness for animals, and her feelings ran deep.

At that moment, Hua Eun stretched out her hand toward the hatchling.

“Hurry! I want to be ‘Chosen’ too!”

‘No, you’ve already been ‘Chosen’ by this side already…’

A person who shouldn’t want to be Chosen was insisting on it.

*

– Whoosh.

Outside the window of my private boat, I could hear the sound of water flowing along the Zhang River.

Looking outside, I saw the sun had set, and only the moonlight danced on the surface of the water.

We had been floating on the river for two days since the hatchling was born.

Right after confirming that the little one was in perfect condition, we set out for Akiang.

Normally, when lizards are born, they are almost in the same state as adults.

So a boat trip wouldn’t be an issue at all.

Moreover, we could no longer delay our departure since we had been urgently urged to come.

“How much longer do we have?”

“Soon, Lord So-ryong.”

When I asked one of the crew members sent from the Jegal clan, he replied that it was only three jungs distant by boat, and given the speed of this vessel on the Zhang River, we’d arrive shortly.

I decided to head out onto the deck.

“I’m going out, anyone else coming? No, Venomous Insects?”

As I turned to the inside, Hyang quickly crawled onto my shoulder.

– Squeak!

Hyang pointed towards the deck with its antennae, signaling me to go first, and behind her, Chao and Bin followed reluctantly.

– Swoosh.

It seemed they didn’t want to go out, but Hyang wasn’t going to let them be left behind alone.

Yo-hwa seemed to have made herself comfortable in the hammock made of spider silk, swaying back and forth with joy.

Meanwhile, Hua Eun and Seol-sister were still in a heated debate over the name for Seol and Bin’s hatchling.

“Hua Eun, I still think ‘Nyeongi’ sounds best for a name! It’s so pretty. The character for cold (冷) is just perfect.”

“It sounds too much like a girl’s name! ‘Dong-i’ is way better! It takes after winter, born from ice and snow, so it should have a strong name befitting a son!”

The two of them were completely ignoring my existence while arguing about the name for the newborn spawned from Seol and Bin.

Upon shifting my gaze to Chao and Bin, they both shook their heads vigorously.

It seemed like they were saying, “There’s no way we can intervene.”

“Let’s go out.”

– Swoosh.

– Swoosh.

– Swoosh!

Finally, when the three of us emerged onto the deck after a long time, a refreshing breeze blew towards us from the direction we were headed.

A bit of mist had begun to rise, when suddenly, some commotion broke out at the bow of the boat.

“What’s happening? We should be able to see land soon!”

“It might be due to the fog! All crew members, keep your eyes wide open and search!”

“Understood!”

The crew seemed unable to locate something.

As had been said, the thick fog obscured anything identifiable, but it wasn’t yet too thick for visibility. Unsure of what was going on, I approached the captain, the Tao Master.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Oh, Lord So-ryong. As we approach Akiang, I thought we should be able to see the lights by now, but we haven’t spotted any, and it’s causing issues. Even in the dead of night, the light should make the town visible, but it’s pitch dark.”

– Squeak!

That was when I heard a sharp sound as our boat’s side hit something.

“What is that!?” “The dock, Master Tao!”

“What!? Raise the poles! Raise the poles!”

It appeared that, shrouded in darkness, we failed to see the dock, and our boat hit it.

Startled, the crew members rushed to ensure it didn’t breach the ship and went to check on its condition.

‘Wait, isn’t this an absurdity only for brand new cars in my previous life?’

I thought that only new cars experienced minor accidents, but to be scratched on the first voyage, it was a moment of disbelief for me.

Just then, the Tao Master approached to report.

“It seems we merely grazed it. No leaks, so don’t worry.”

“O-Oh, is that so? That’s a relief.”

In most cases, if it were a true disaster, I would’ve accepted it, but the scratches seemed to worry me more than anything else, which the Tao Master obliviously didn’t grasp.

It was then that a man rushed forth from the dock, calling out through the darkness.

“I don’t know where you’re from, but put out the flames! Quickly!”

“Put out the flames?”

Realizing the current situation, it dawned on me that we were amidst that black insect-infested area.

Wondering why everything was so dark, it seems that people were likely extinguishing their lamps because of those creatures.

If they lit fires, those bugs would swarm.

“Everyone, let’s put the flames out!”

We quickly extinguished our lights and stepped down onto the dock, where a guard man stood, who asked us where we had come from.

“Where did you come from?”

“Oh, we’re from Sichuan. We received an introduction from the Martial Forest Alliance.”

“The Martial Forest Alliance? Ah, the ones awaiting the princess?”

“Yes, that’s us.”

“Oh! Welcome! We’ve been preparing to guide you to the princess! We have been waiting happily for your arrival!”

After hearing that we were introduced by the Martial Forest Alliance, the guard brightened up.

He hastily led the way ahead.

It seemed they had been highly anticipating us.

“Follow me!”

However, since our group hadn’t fully disembarked yet, I cautiously requested, “Excuse me, but we have young ones still on board, would you mind waiting a moment?”

“Oh, you have more companions?”

“Yes, it’s nothing too surprising.”

“Surprised?”

“Kids, you can come down now!”

As I called towards the boat, slowly emerging from the mist were Chao, Bin, and Yo-hwa, glistening under the moonlight as they stepped onto the dock.

At that sight, the guard immediately fell to his knees, exclaiming.

“B-Black insects and… monsters too?! A-Akiang… is this a bad omen…?”

The poor guard couldn’t contain his surprise upon seeing Seol and Bin’s young ones.

‘Should we just leave?’

*

Despite arriving at the office of the Governor, we weren’t even allowed to step through the entrance.

The guards were too shocked by Chao and Bin’s appearance, preventing us from entering.

I had brought them along to create an air of professionalism, but this definitely seemed counterproductive.

A moment later, as we were surrounded by the guards, two figures emerged from the darkness.

“You said you were sent by the Martial Forest Alliance?”

“Your Majesty!”

“No, no. It’s all fine.”

As the woman spoke, the Artisan was about to shout praise for the Emperor but was promptly stopped.

It turned out that when speaking to the princess, one had to use formal speech, and her husband must use formal speech for life, so he had been preparing for that, but she hardly seemed to take manners seriously.

“I present to you the Princess Guando of the Four Heavenly Houses, Dang Cheolsan.”

“Oh, you’re from the Four Heavenly Houses! I’ve heard much about your notable reputation. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yu Ji-ryeon, and this here is my superior, Governor Seobinak.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I am Seobinak.”

After the introductions, the woman’s voice returned as she gazed at me, noticing Bin and Chao shining under the moonlight, her expression filled with surprise.

“By the way, I requested individuals knowledgeable about the Venomous Insects, and here you are! I’m relieved that someone of the esteemed Tang Clan’s head personally arrived to assist us…”

The shimmering reflection of moonlight on her features looked soothing, while the Artisan smiled as he stepped aside.

“It is not me who will assist the princess, but rather this young man here.”

“Y-You mean the Junior Hero?”

As soon as I claimed I would assist, Yu Ji-ryeon blinked in surprise.

Gaining her composure, she asked, “Will you be able to see the bugs?”

“Understood. Prepare yourselves.”

Though slightly flustered, Princess Guando nodded.

She signaled one of the guards to prepare something, who moved a distance away to strike a flint.

– Scratch.

As the torch ignited, the man jabbed it into the ground and swiftly dashed back to us.

– Whoosh.

Then a chilling sound echoed through the air.

In the next instant, a mass of something flew fiercely at the torch, extinguishing it with their ferocity.

Rushing forward, I quickly snatched a still-living specimen from the mix of burnt bodies.

As I inspected it under the moonlight, its appearance became clear.

With pitch-black wings, dark legs, and a bright orange back.

And two of them were stuck together.

“Uh…”

Slowly, I turned my head towards Princess Guando.

“What’s the issue? Do you not recognize these insects?”

“Ah, no, I do know of them…”

“Do you really?! Is there a way these troublesome things can assist us?!”

The princess looked at me eagerly, clearly anticipating my response, but it was an awkward position to answer.

These creatures were called Love Bugs, one of the many pests that swarmed.

To be precise, if I were to translate their name accurately into Central Plains language, they’d be called Copulation Bugs, but that raised a lot of considerations about the context.

They’re always seen in pairs, mating, hence the colloquial nickname Love Bugs, so calling them an ‘Insect of Love’ would require explaining, and I found that simply calling them Copulation Bugs would save me that trouble.

‘Would saying “sexual bugs” to the princess get me executed or something?’

I was seriously pondering the implications of what I was about to say.