The Emperor’s Daily Nitpicking

complaining about people or things.
He loved it as long as it was a side of himself that no one else could see.

This is probably pretty insane, too.
Oswald mocked himself inwardly.

But Kevin clearly didn’t have the interest or the patience to keep talking about such nonsense, and his attention soon returned to Oswald.

“Warmer than earlier?” He wanted to pull Oswald’s hand over to see what had happened to the white hairs but felt a warm hand instead–at least the temperature of his palm had somehow returned to normal.
He just didn’t know if it would continue to rise and repeat the previous alternating heat and cold.

Oswald let out a “hmm,” not focusing on himself as he spoke.
But now that Kevin had pulled him back, he realised he was slowly easing back into the cold, frozen as a popsicle.

But the worst part …… was that he had more white hair on his hands.

The thought of Kevin’s “mouldy” metaphor made him feel sick, and he had a vague urge to chop off his hand, which was a crime to look at.

“It’s not bad.
It’s not ugly.” Kevin the bastard, instead of being even half-empathetic, put on a straight face, lifted his hand and stroked the handful of white hair, saying, “Sometimes one doesn’t realise how many things one can remember, and the dreams aren’t all ridiculous and groundless.
I’d say you’re not far from being …… tsk, it’s quite nice to touch.”

This bastard was unsatisfied with two touches, playfully pulled it again, and asked especially shamelessly, “Does it hurt?”

The emperor looked at him indifferently.
“What do you think? Your Excellency, you’re addicted to being handy, aren’t you?”

Kevin had wanted to ask Oswald if he had ever experienced anything like this in the past, but he knew without asking that he hadn’t.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be staring at the white hairs with a stiff and surprised look on his face.

Even though he was handy, he wasn’t just playing around.
After a couple of strokes, he raised an eyebrow and guessed, “If it’s true that you inherited the Giant Beastman bloodline from your grandfather, then your grandfather must have been a fierce beast.
This fur…… is either a white lion, a demon tiger or a snow wolf.
Not bad, it’s not bad to change.”

Oswald: “……” Will you do me a favour and stop talking?

The young emperor couldn’t figure out how it was not bad that he had gone from being human to not being human.
Besides, even if the dream was true, could his grandfather, a pure-blooded Giant Beastman, be the same as him, a half-blood? What if he was missing an arm or a leg, or like when Dan had been acting silly and changed everything else, but his head remained the same? Would he still be able to look at it?

He would have changed if he were alone in the tunnel, but someone was next to him.
Even worse, he had some other thoughts about him.

What idiot would want to make a fool of himself in front of someone he had feelings for?

Oswald thought condescendingly: Whoever wants to reveal himself can do it.
I won’t do it anyway.

“The white lion’s fur feels rougher than yours, so let’s rule it out.” Kevin was oblivious to Oswald’s psychological activity and still teased him by analysing the possibilities.

“How do you know so much about fur? Are you a pervert?” Oswald slapped away his idle paws in disgust, clutching his fingers into his palm to stop him from looking.

“I’ve raised quite a few before.” Kevin thought back to himself for a moment after he finished, and decided it wasn’t good to stick it in his face, so he corrected it slightly and said, “Bred.”

He had once kept many beasts under the temple of the god of light, but he had only set aside a large valley in front of and behind the temple for them to grow freely and occasionally stood by to admire them or lovingly touch their heads when the mood struck him.
The man’s taste was straightforward, and he had one and only one criterion – the more beautiful they were, the more he liked them.
Therefore, most of the animals he kept were powerful and beautiful lions, tigers and wolves.

There was no need to be particular about the lion, but the tiger had to be an untamed demon tiger with long, sharp fangs, and he preferred the snow wolves on the plateau, which were snowy white with a calm gaze and a strong, valiant look.
At one point, Kevin felt that this creature was simply to his liking, and this remark was ridiculed by the goddess Thenez for two years.

He even had a more beautiful celestial wolf than the snow wolf, with an extra pair of wings in addition to the quality a snow wolf should have.
Unfortunately, there weren’t many in the world back then, and they had probably vanished entirely since then.
After all, the era of the Old Gods was long gone.

“All right.” Kevin clapped his hands and stood up.
He thought that half-bloods, especially Oswald, who had only this much lineage, should not be affected by the Bettan Days as much as ordinary Giant Beastman.
Transformation should be unlikely, at most growing a few tufts of hair and transforming into claws, so he was teasing him with his analysis.

“Your temperature is normal, right? Let’s move if it’s normal.
Let’s not spend time here.” Kevin didn’t spare any effort to help this time and reached out to pull the reluctant emperor to his feet, leading the way in stride.

The path of the secret passage was, after all, artificial and hard-cut, uneven, with occasional puddles of water seeping in from nowhere, forming a shallow pit in the hollows.
So much that the sound of footsteps, splashing water, the breathing of the two men and echoes mingled together in a way that did not seem quiet.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Kevin suddenly became aware of Oswald’s footsteps slowing in pace behind him, and he seemed to have been left behind for a while.

“What’s wrong with you?” He stopped and turned to ask, but a section of protruding curved stone wall blocked his view.

Consequently, at that very same time, he heard an odd rumble coming from behind the stone wall……

When he thought about it, it sounded like something with feathery wings fluttering against the stone wall ……

Kevin’s heart suddenly jumped.
Because by the light of the fluorite, he saw a huge shadow cast on the opposite wall of the stone wall, which, by any stretch of the imagination, was not what a person would present.