A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

Chapter 307

Chapter 307

Could gods engage in reproductive acts?

For example, in one worldline among the past cycles, there had been magical beasts similar to Shub-Niggurath's children.

They parasitized humans and continued to absorb nutrients until they finished growing.

Looking at this alone, it might seem no different from simple human reproduction.

But broadly speaking, it wasn't different from the reproductive and growth processes of plant groups either.

Then could gods reproduce? The concept of gender that humans attributed to them was extremely thin.

Therefore, if they could propagate their characteristics to other individuals as the original body, regardless of whether they were mother or father,

Should Aphoom-Zhah also be considered capable of such reproductive activities?

"I-I'll take my leave here.""Oh, okay."

"I'll also take the gift His Majesty King Oderus bestowed upon Yesung."

"Um, but."

"No. Don't say anything. This is just... Yesung's problem. I hope you return alive. Take care of yourselves. I'm withdrawing here. Farewell."

Dardin, who finished only what he had to say and entered the teleportation magic formation,

Quickly disappeared along with the mountain of gifts with the help of the surrounding mages.

He watched that scene blankly, then followed behind Yurik who immediately stepped onto the empty formation.

Was he angry?

"I'll teleport to Aquilonia."

"No, to Landvidi. After that, we'll handle returning to Aquilonia ourselves."

"Landvidi, you say? That's not a good place to visit right now."

"Prepare it."

Because Yurik spoke so curtly, the mages couldn't ask more questions and prepared the teleportation magic.

Even though mages from other regions had come up to partially replace the functions after the Mage Tower's mages disappeared, there were too few of them.

Perhaps because of that, the amount of suspicious liquid being poured on the floor for teleportation magic was unusually large.

Meanwhile, he tried to secretly grab Yurik's hand,

But the black-gloved hand coldly slapped his hand away.

"Ow."

Even when he deliberately made that sound, Yurik didn't give him the slightest bit of attention.

He was angry. He was angry.

While he was pondering how to appease him, the mages lined up and began chanting spells while muttering.

Along with the feeling that the ground beneath his feet would suddenly cave in, a familiar nausea rose from within.

Yet the only thought that came to mind was this:

Was that such a sensitive question? This guy, wasn't he actually incapable of reproduction, which was why he made homunculi?

* * *

Yurik had faced many unexpected situations until now.

No matter how much he thought he was exceptional, he couldn't control all the changes created by hundreds of millions of people.

But with his accumulated experience, he wasn't surprised by most things. He was confident of that.

Even so.

"...Yurik, please forget the question I asked earlier. I asked too suddenly."

What kind of mindset did Yu Yesung have to ask such a thing?

After teleporting to Landvidi, the two had just been walking the whole time.

Yurik knew that Yesung was hurriedly chasing after him, but he had no intention of stopping.

If he had asked when they were alone, that would be different. But to ask such a thing when Dardin was there too?

For a prince of a nation, succession issues were handled sensitively. But did Yesung have awareness of this or not?

It was another moment that revealed the fact that Yesung didn't care at all about his own dignity.

No, of course Yesung wouldn't live by weighing each and every such thing.

He had recently been trapped in a mountain cave with something called a god and then released,

So it could be taken into account that he was less socialized than himself.

But even so, this was too much.

"Thinking about it, the reason you made homunculi might also be related to that, but I really asked like an idiot in front of Dardin-"

When such statements came out, even he got a headache.

Finally Yurik stopped walking and shot at Yesung.

"If you're going to ask such questions, couldn't you ask when we're alone? Did you have to do it in front of Dardin?"

"But Dardin is on your side."

"Regardless of sides, don't you think Dardin is an ordinary person? If I asked you in front of him whether Yesung has reproductive capability, could Yesung answer?"

Hearing those words, Yesung suddenly began seriously looking down at his feet.

Yurik sneered silently. Yes, now he seemed to finally feel the wrong he had committed.

But what came out of Yesung's mouth wasn't an apology.

"I haven't tried so I don't know, but don't I lack reproductive capability? I come back to life even when I die, so I wonder if my physical activities are fundamentally different from humans who have reproductive capability..."

Who asked him to explain that now?

For a moment, Yurik felt the urge to grab and shake Yesung's head roughly, just like Yesung had done to him.

"Who told you to say that now!"

"But you seemed curious...! I thought about it in my own way and came to that conclusion!"

"Put away that damn curiosity, Yesung. In the first place, why did you ask that?"

Yesung looked at Yurik who was holding his forehead, then rolled his eyes around.

"I was worried about what would happen if Aphoom-Zhah had children with the Princess."

"Just for that? What problem would that cause?"

"Aphoom-Zhah doesn't seem likely to do that, but I just thought it might be possible. But strictly speaking, Aphoom-Zhah's body is a mass of magical power that looks human. It's no different from ice."

"So?"

"So it definitely wouldn't have such functions, but I heard that Princess Giselle has magical talent..."

"If there's an opportunity, he might think of a way to have children between that thing and a human?"

"Something like that."

He had many strange worries.

From Yurik's perspective, he wondered why he was worrying about a guy they had decided to abandon in Asgard,

But since Yesung looked so deeply concerned, he decided to let it slide just this once.

"I think there won't be such a thing, so don't worry."

"You mean it's impossible for Aphoom-Zhah to have children?"

"I don't know if that guy has such intentions, but from what I can see, it doesn't seem like it. And no matter how much of a mage he is, creating one human is impossible."

"Impossible?"

"Even ancient species or alien races like Mi-Go couldn't do that, so wouldn't human creation be impossible for guys who still fight with iron and rocks?"

"But the ancient species created you."

"That's not quite right either. They didn't create me with purpose. I'm a product of chance that even they didn't expect."

And that was also the most irritating point.

Yurik forcibly swallowed the words that were about to follow.

A fact he completely forgot about in life but occasionally remembered.

Whenever that happened, he felt strangely scratched inside.

Born in the ancient species' garbage dump, waste, failure, an existence no one wanted or planned.

Even though it was an undeniable fact, why did it feel particularly like being thrown into a swamp today?

The hands that had unconsciously been tense gradually relaxed.

"I think the ancient species made enormous numbers of Shoggoths instead of you and that's why they perished."

"...What?"

"Right? Isn't one Yurik better than a hundred Shoggoths? They should have immediately discarded the Shoggoths as soon as they saw you. I would have done that."

Yurik looked down at Yesung who was now standing beside him.

"Having a hundred of me doesn't seem like it would be very good."

"Why? I'd like it."

"Would Yesung like having a hundred younger siblings?"

"Ah... If the first younger sibling was the Yurik who's here now, it might be good."

What was that? Yurik stared at his hyung who, unlike himself, hadn't grown at all since those days.

But when he thought about it, Yesung's words were right.

In the end, he was the one who had survived until now. Not those damn creators, the ancient species, or the Shoggoths they had cherished.

Yurik, who had been watching Yesung spouting insignificant words, suddenly looked down at his hands.

Yesung didn't seem to care much, but he had been bare-handed without gloves since leaving Gladheim.

Where had he lost them again? He must have left them in the bedroom where he and Dardin had been.

Thinking this, Yurik took off his black gloves and directly put them on Yesung's hands.

"You keep dropping gloves everywhere. Yesung probably doesn't know how expensive they are."

"I can pay you back later. Your gloves are big and loose, I don't like them. Just wear them yourself."

"They're originally mine, so they can't fit Yesung perfectly. Isn't that obvious? Where did you leave them? Do you remember?"

"No. I forgot."

"Did you really become stupid with age? You'll forget your younger sibling's name next."

Yurik, who had been watching Yesung wearing the wrinkled black gloves with extra space for fingers, took his hand.

"Let's go."

Yesung was careless. He had no wariness, was dull and absent-minded. And he was foolish. He was an oddball with no sense who was only curious about strange things.

But he was Yurik's family. He was his hyung, his father, his most reliable protector. The safest existence. The same species, his understanding, and the only one who would tell him that it was actually nothing when Yurik trembled with inevitable feelings of inferiority.

Yurik erased the Queen who called him 'my son' from his mind.

He also erased the King of Aquilonia who said he had 'grown well' but only showed his back, and was now on the verge of death.

Erasing them one by one like that, the scenery at the end was ultimately the red wasteland and the ancient species' garden.

Two sets of footprints side by side on the crackling dirt path, the Milky Way so beautiful it seemed ready to pour down, and the arm pillow behind his head.

The lizard that had fled from the thick greenery. Gentle sunlight. Words they had written together on the ground.

Warm body temperature. The coziness he had felt for the first time in his life. The first sensation of being protected as someone under protection that he had felt in the 7,000 years since gaining consciousness.

Yurik looked back.

Like in those days back then, large and small footprints were side by side on the snow.

And at the end of the footprints that weren't his own.

"I have to return this, right? I shouldn't lose it, right? It keeps slipping down, hey."

There was his sibling wearing black gloves that were at least one size too big.

In the end, everything was no different from back then.

Even if time flowed endlessly, and even if earth-shaking changes occurred,

Only Yesung and himself would always be in that place.

Yurik felt great relief at that fact.

An eternally unchanging friend and family. A signpost that would show him direction when he lost his way.

"Yesung."

"Why?"

"When we go to Aquilonia, is there anything you want to do?"

"Destroy the tower where the kids are imprisoned."

"Do it. What else?"

"Make you king."

"Do that too. More?"

"If a god appears, catch it and beat it up."

"Good. I'll help you. Anything else?"

"I can't think of anything more."

"You can do anything. When I become king, Yesung will become the king's brother. Then you should have at least the position of grand duke."

"What? I don't want that. What would I do with such a thing?"

"If you get that."

Come to think of it, he wasn't even a king, just a grand duke.

Yurik inwardly lamented the fact that he couldn't make Yesung royalty.

What was good about becoming a grand duke?

"If you get that, you could live in a castle as big as the royal castle."

"Mm."

"And you could do whatever you want."

Yesung shouldn't think that becoming a grand duke in Aquilonia was nothing special. If he had known this would happen, he should have become a prince of Brythunia or Asgard.

Still, Yurik didn't give up and earnestly tried to persuade Yesung.

He was showing such a reaction because he didn't know human psychology well yet. Did he think he could easily receive a grand duke title anywhere? If he became a grand duke, he could go anywhere he wanted within Aquilonia. He could receive vast lands and build villages Yesung liked there. If many merchant groups gathered, many people would live there too. Things like the artisan streets he had seen before would be created, and when festivals were held, bands might come from far away. Or how about the hunting festivals hosted by the Aquilonia royal family? Yesung couldn't hunt, but he would take care of that. They were brothers. That much should be possible...

Something suddenly intruded between Yurik's words as he earnestly listed the benefits of receiving a title without being discouraged by Yesung's indifference.

[This body, entrance. Believer going hunting gods? Me too going. Believer's eternal se-curity. This body appears.]

-Thump!

Without taking his eyes off Yesung, Yurik reflexively stepped on the direction of the sound.

A crushing sound was heard as something crumbled.

Wait, what was that just now?

Unlike Yurik who was inferring from the sensation felt through his sole,

Yesung saw it and stood dazed for a moment before shouting.

"Aphoom-Zhah! You bastard, you're Aphoom-Zhah!"

Aphoom-Zhah. That god bastard.

Because of the god who wouldn't die and kept coming to find Yesung,

Yurik's head began throbbing all over.