Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 376: Attributes
Zion’s reverent gaze reminded Tauro of a devout believer. He hoped that traveling together would eventually reduce the excessive admiration and decided not to challenge it immediately.
Instead, Tauro asked Zion directly about the unusual appearance.
“My mother was catfolk and my father was human. Normally, a child of those races resembles one parent or the other. I was born between the two—a human-looking body with only cat ears and a tail.”
Zion touched one ear self-consciously.
“Humans didn’t accept me as human, and beastfolk didn’t accept me as one of them. I spent most of my life hiding under a hood.”
Even before the criminal adventuring team Gray Vultures imposed slave magic, Zion had endured discrimination and isolation.
“But no one in the Dragonfolk Village treated me differently. I could walk around without my hood for the first time.” Zion hesitated. “Have you started to dislike me?”
Zion looked at Tauro like an abandoned cat.
“Zion, we already welcomed you into our team. We’d never reject you because your appearance is unusual. Besides, those ears are rather cute.”
Tauro laughed, dispelling Zion’s fear.
“He’s right,” Ankh said. “Black-Gold Wings doesn’t discriminate over someone’s race or appearance.”
“I’m dragonfolk myself,” Ragune added. “Tauro and the others accepted me without hesitation. I conceal my features among humans only to avoid unnecessary trouble, not because my companions object to them.”
As a member of another nonhuman race, Ragune understood Zion’s feelings better than anyone.
“Thank you. I was terrified you might see me like this and decide I couldn’t join you… Damn it, I’ll live…!”
Zion repeatedly expressed gratitude. The final phrase sounded strange, but before Tauro could ask about it, Ragune gestured toward the door.
“Why are we standing outside? Let us go in.”
“Right—this is my house, so I should have said that first. Damn it… Just kill me…”
Ragune laughed as her own familiar refrain slipped out.
Tauro suddenly noticed the contrast.
“Zion, did you acquire some sort of catchphrase during your training?” Tauro asked as they entered.
“A catchphrase? I don’t think so.”
Tauro remained suspicious but postponed the question.
“Lord Tauro, everyone, welcome back,” Drago said. “And Zion, I’m glad.”
Drago looked relieved to see that Zion had been accepted safely. Zion had probably confided some fears during training.
Once everyone was seated, Tauro asked the question that interested him most.
“How was the Dragon’s Den?”
Even iron-willed dragonfolk emerged from that training muttering, ‘Damn it… Just kill me…’ Zion had completed a shortened human course, and Tauro wanted to understand what had been endured.
“It was extremely difficult. Compared with the full training undertaken by dragonfolk, mine was probably gentle. It was still hell, though… Damn it, I’ll live…!”
There it is again, Tauro thought.
“Damn it… Just kill me…”
The subject caused both Drago and Ragune to repeat their own traumatized refrain in unison.
“I’m sorry I left you in such a place,” Tauro said. “Did the training at least produce results?”
“I survived by thinking only about becoming useful to you. It was so harsh that my time enslaved by Gray Vultures seemed mild, but the thought of helping Lord Tauro gave me the strength to continue… Damn it, I’ll live…!”
Zion paused as memories of the training passed over that face, then ended with the same phrase once again.
“Zion, you keep saying, ‘Damn it, I’ll live.’”
“What?”
“You have added it to the end of several sentences.”
“I said it aloud? During training I only mouthed it to remind myself that I had to survive for Lord Tauro’s sake. How embarrassing…”
Zion blushed and lowered the head with an unexpectedly delicate gesture.
For a moment, Tauro wondered whether Zion was the sort of feminine-looking boy people might easily mistake for a girl. He dismissed the thought; whatever the truth, Zion was still Zion.