Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 267: Group (1)

I did feel a little regret that Yeolbi had run away, but as I watched the kids searching for him, I couldn’t help thinking: Can you really catch a runaway so easily?

Yo-hwa had gone into a frenzy organizing the search party, but still—if Yeolbi wasn’t a complete idiot, he would’ve run far by now. If he found a place to hide underground, we’d never find him.

To be honest, I didn’t feel that strongly about bringing him back.

Even if we did manage to catch him, I wasn’t confident we could tame him again.

These divine beasts were smart. They could understand human speech and think for themselves.

If he had been dreaming of the wild while pretending to be tame right in front of us, then... would it even be possible to truly tame someone like that?

Even in my past life, we didn’t always succeed in raising wild-caught animals.

Just like humans have different personalities, so do venomous creatures.

There’s always the occasional one who just doesn’t adjust.

Some would flat-out refuse to eat any feed. Others, once adopted, would refuse food completely, as if longing for the wild.

The ones who simply wouldn’t eat feed were the easy ones. You could just give them live food like fingerling mealworms or crickets.

Some creatures naturally preferred live prey anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

But there were those “philosopher types” who seemed to say, “I was born wild, and I will never cooperate with you,” or “I’d rather starve to death than eat your food.”

Sometimes, you’d try force-feeding or take them to a vet, doing everything you could to keep them alive—only to watch them die anyway.

Most of them were native to Africa or South America, and there was no returning them to the wild. All you could do was helplessly watch.

So once Yeolbi ran away, I figured there was no point dragging him back just to have him die in captivity.

I ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) let go of that idea entirely.

But then, maybe around lunchtime—just as the kids had started to split up—the voice of Cho echoed in my mind.

—Tsrrr! “Dad! We caught him!”

Startled, I replied in disbelief.

A beetle like Yeolbi could hide just about anywhere. If he went underground, he’d be impossible to find. And he didn’t seem dumb enough to get caught so easily.

“Caught him?”

—Tsrr! “I-I mean... we didn’t catch him exactly. It’s kinda hard to explain... just wait a minute!”

I didn’t quite understand what she meant by that confusing message, and I was still puzzling it out when I saw them.

From the far side of the sky, Yeondu and Cho came flying toward me.

—Tsrrr.

—Shaaa.

They circled over the swamp, then dipped low, swooping back and forth between me and the thick brush, as if guiding someone.

And then, from the dense foliage, Bini, Hyang, and Hwayang emerged one after the other.

Behind them, all the snakes that had joined the search began slithering back too.

It looked like everyone had returned—except for the one they were supposedly bringing back.

Naturally, I figured Yo-hwa must be the one escorting him in, probably dragging Yeolbi bound in spider silk like some twirling prisoner.

‘Yeolbi must’ve gone through hell, huh? But... what do I do with him now?’

If he was caught, what was I supposed to do?

He didn’t seem likely to settle down. Maybe I should just let him go.

‘One last offer—and if he refuses, I’ll release him.’

That’s the decision I came to.

—Rustle. Rustle.

The brush moved again—and Yo-hwa crawled out, heading toward me.

But Yeolbi wasn’t in her hands.

I looked behind her, thinking maybe she’d tied him up with thread like a bug in a web—but there was nothing.

No sign of a string, no struggling beetle.

“Yo-hwa, great work. Uh... but where’s Yeolbi?”

—Kisit.

At my question, Yo-hwa pointed back at the bush she’d just come through.

I tilted my head.

Everyone else had returned. Runaways don’t just come back of their own will.

—Rustle. Rustle. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Then the brush moved again.

A divine beast I’d never seen before burst from the foliage.

And the moment I saw it, the first thing that popped into my mind was a creature from my past life.

“Wait, hyung? What the hell are you doing here!?”

Red scales, orange crest, and orange horns.

It was smaller than Yeondu, but otherwise looked almost exactly like her.

It had to be the one I’d been searching for all this time.

The Ji-yeong Snake.

Even Hwaun, who’d been watching the others return, gasped.

“Th-that’s the Ji-yeong Snake, right? So-ryong?!”

“That’s Ji-yeong Snake?”

“I—I think so?”

The snake emerged from the foliage and paused, startled by Hwaun and Seol-nui’s reactions.

It made a small noise, as if asking something of the other kids.

—Ska?

—Tsrrr.

—Kisit.

—Shaya.

Cho, Yo-hwa, and Yeondu all nodded together.

And then the snake turned its head toward me.

Its long tongue flicked out across its face.

It moved in a way that clearly screamed, “Look at me! Aren’t I adorable?”

Then it slithered right up to me, lifted its head dramatically, and once I looked up at it, it quickly lowered its body to meet my eye level and gave a respectful nod.

—Ska.

It was probably a greeting, so I reflexively bowed in return.

I was still taken aback by its sudden appearance, but its actions were clearly friendly.

It looked like it was genuinely trying to make a good impression.

“Uh, y-yeah. Nice to meet you. I’m So-ryong.”

—Skaya.

It bowed again, then looked a bit embarrassed.

And then... it stretched its tail toward me.

—S-ska.

I was confused—until I noticed what was tangled in its coils.

Yeolbi.

Looking dazed and a little stunned, completely wrapped up in the Ji-yeong Snake.

That’s when Cho’s words from earlier finally clicked.

She had said they didn’t catch Yeolbi themselves—someone else did.

Ah... so this guy’s the one who brought him in?

So Yeolbi tried to run away, and this snake caught him and brought him back?

But... how did this guy know we were looking for Yeolbi?

That’s when I noticed something else.

Even as he offered Yeolbi to me, the snake kept glancing over at something else.

Huh? What’s he looking at?

I followed his gaze—those wide, vertical pupils were fixed on a figure standing among the others.

Yeondu.

It hit me instantly, and I turned to Cho.

‘Cho, how did this snake and Yeolbi even meet?’

—Tsrrr. “It wasn’t me. Yeondu unnie saw him first. From what I heard, Yeolbi came strutting in all smug, going on about how he brought his Big Brother, and then the snake said, ‘Nope,’ and just wrapped him up. That’s how we got him back.”

Aha!

Cho’s words finally made it all click.

Roughly speaking, Yeolbi seemed to see this guy as some kind of hyungnim figure.

I didn’t know exactly how divine beast dynamics worked, but among males, there was always that thing—hierarchy.

It didn’t matter how old they were, or the time and place—it was a natural phenomenon in groups of males.

Judging by what had happened, Yeolbi probably went to him out of frustration after being bullied by the others, asking his hyung for revenge.

But the moment this guy saw Yeondu, he completely switched sides and basically sold Yeolbi out.

No question about it—his pupils were filled with nothing but Yeondu.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Maybe that was an issue of character, but hey—it’s not like he betrayed his country or tribe.

He just sold out a bratty little brother for the sake of a girl.

And if the “little brother” in question was a runaway like Yeolbi? Totally forgivable.

“Hey, it happens. A pretty girl shows up, and a guy does what a guy does.”

—Thump.

While I was processing all that, the snake gently dropped Yeolbi next to me, tapping him twice with his tail.

The moment Yeolbi hit the ground, he snapped back to his senses and bowed his head deeply in apology.

—T-tski...

Probably trying to apologize for running away.

But the whole situation was just so funny, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

He had run off, only to get caught by someone else and brought back. That was a +1 for us.

“Well, uh, Yeolbi. What the heck happened here...? Hahaha. This is just too good.”

Yeolbi dipped his antennae even lower in embarrassment.

Then the Ji-yeong Snake gave Yeolbi a little tap on the head with his tail.

—Ska!

Like he was saying, “Show some proper manners, will you?”

Watching the two of them, I suddenly had a thought—this might be easier than I’d expected.

I mean, even in prison, if you get the toughest guy on your side, the rest fall in line.

Same in elementary school—win over the strongest boy, and the others are easy to manage.

I’d been agonizing over what to do with Yeolbi... but clearly, that had been pointless.

All I had to do was get this Ji-yeong Snake guy on board, and Yeolbi would follow.

So I walked up to the snake and threw an arm around his shoulders.

—S-ska?

The snake was clearly surprised by the gesture—humans don’t usually do this kind of thing—but maybe because of Yeondu, he didn’t flinch or back away.

While he was still distracted, I leaned in and asked quietly:

[“Hey, have you heard her name?”]

—Ska?

He tilted his head at the sudden question, confused.

I smiled and clarified.

[“The green snake you’ve been staring at. You seem to like her.”]

—S... ska...

I asked because it was obvious.

He flinched and stole a glance at Yeondu, clearly caught off guard.

I tapped him gently below the neck—around where a human’s shoulder would be—and explained.

[“Look, I’m not exactly human, but Yeondu is like a little sister to me. You know what a little sister is, right? Someone who’s like family—born from the same... well, not literally the same womb, but close.”]

—Skaat?

[“I mean, no, we’re not actually related, but we’re close. That’s what matters. Anyway, I’ve been thinking—it’s time to find her a mate. And looking at you... I think it might just work.”]

—Skaaat!?

He whipped his head toward me, eyes wide with disbelief.

No way... is this going that smoothly?

Honestly, I’d already decided there was no other match for Yeondu.

Divine beasts didn’t seem to have some kind of “soul-bonded destiny” like in fairy tales.

Smiling, I continued.

[“If you’re interested, I could back you up. What do you say?”]

—S-skatchi...

[“I mean, you’re handsome, you’ve got a great personality, and I genuinely like you. If you’re willing, I’ll talk you up to Yeondu, set the stage a little, maybe give you a chance to shine.

No ulterior motive—just think you’d make a great fit.”]

He glanced back and forth between Yeondu and me, probably metaphorically chewing his fingernails if he had any.

Then... shyly, he nodded.

—Ska...

And that’s that.

I gave him a big, approving grin.

[“Great. Good choice. You need a name, though. You’ve got that orange vibe going on, so how about Orange? It means ‘Vermilion-Yellow.’ I picked it to match with Yeondu.”]

—Skaaat!

He was clearly touched.

With everything going smoothly, I let my voice drop into a slightly bossier tone.

[“Alright, from now on, you call me Big Bro. And make sure you manage your juniors properly.”]

—Ska?

[“You know, like Yeolbi over there.”]

He looked confused for a second, then I pointed at Yeolbi.

Immediately, he beat his chest with his tail like he was saying “Leave it to me!”

—Ska!

Then he walked up to Yeolbi and laid down a solid threat.

—Ska-yat!

—T-tski...

And just like that, everything was settled.

All that was left was to bring Cheongyu the Golden Crown Four-Eyed King out from the boat and help him grow into an adult form too.

Things were falling into place beautifully.