#044. The Small Male is Too Kind (1)

#044. The Small Male is Too Kind (1)

The assassin beast-people’s crushing defeat and the betrayal of the black frog-people females reached the ears of the dark-skinned, chief race: the Black Panther clan.

“We could have won if it weren’t for that frog-people’s infighting.”

“Please, have mercy and allow even our Black Mole tribe to become honorable beast-people servants…? Please bestow your mercy…”

“A beast does not beg for mercy. It twists the neck while listening to the prey plead for its own.”

The black mole beast-person, battered from a long escape while wounded.

Even at the sight of them begging for mercy, the black panther beast-people bared their claws with cold faces.

Sensing an ill omen, the black mole beast-people desperately began digging into the walls and floor, trying to escape, but the black panther’s claws showed neither mercy nor hesitation.

*Poo-hwak!*

With the exception of one that escaped through the window, all were instantly killed, their torsos deeply gouged by claws.

“Shall I chase after and bite it to death?”

“Insignificant black moles… they’ll die on their own. Still, this has become troublesome, Vanessa.”

“Why do you think so, Nereisha-unnie?”

“The Beast Revival Society instructed us to ensure the Sodom Guild Master’s death. With the black frogs’ betrayal, the security will only become tighter.”

Assassination by ordinary means has become difficult.

Unless we create a big enough incident to lure the Guild Master outside the guild or draw out all the adventurers, another assassination opportunity may never come.

Despite the concerns of the action leader, Nereisha, the young female leader of the Black Panther clan, Vanessa, smoothed down the glossy black fur that had grown like a black panther’s only on the back of her hand, licking it with her tongue, and grinned slyly.

“Nereisha-unnie is worrying for nothing. How long do you think humans and beast-people have been separated? There’s no way races that have been separated for so long will easily integrate simply because they’re living together.”

“So, we should leave it alone?”

“They’ll sort themselves out soon enough. Arrogant humans will never understand the instincts of a Suin. The poor black frog Suin will either be driven out by human hands, or they’ll leap away, unable to bear it any longer.”

“If we just wait until then, opportunity will come looking for us.”

The black panther clan languidly settled their bodies onto the furniture.

The ‘furniture’ desperately held their tongues, lest they scream under the immense weight of the black panthers.

For the docile Suin who ceased being furniture were doomed to become the black panther clan’s prey.

* * *

The female black frog Suin infiltrated the Adventurer’s Guild with astonishing speed.

“Markov, why didn’t you bring the rope? You need a rope to climb down from high places and up from low ones.”

“Apparently, since they’re frog Suin, they can just jump up or down and use their tongues to pull themselves.”

“And what about the 1m long, three-section assembly pole? We need that to trigger traps that are far away.”

“Their tongues are long too.”

“Why didn’t you bring mosquito coils? You trying to get us killed?”

“Frog Suin eat mosquitoes real good.”

“…Why didn’t humanity ally with frog Suin sooner?”

The black frog Suin drastically reduced the amount of baggage needed by adventurers, allowing them to bring more supplies, food, and water necessary for their expeditions.

According to the system notification that appears in games, the detailed effects are roughly as follows:

━━━

[Alert]

There is a black frog Suin in the party.

The party can perform missions for one week longer (based on a party of four).

The selectable operation area is increased by 100km (based on a party of four).

When a black frog Suin is in the party, the need for various consumables is eliminated.

[Knowledge: Suin] – However, if the intake of moisture is insufficient, the black frog Suin’s stress will rapidly increase.

[Knowledge: Prohibited] – In fields with insufficient moisture, the black frog Suin’s combat power will continuously and significantly weaken, and in severe cases, may lead to death. Entry into arid, dry, and fiery fields is strongly discouraged.

━━━

There are various advantages in adventure, but the intake of moisture becomes more important, requiring greater attention to routes and water management.

If you are aware of the precautions, you can see great benefits, but if you ignore them, you will suddenly be branded as a Suin abuser, a Suin discriminationist, and even a Suin murderer, turning all black frog Suin into enemies.

If a beginner rashly gets involved, they will end up severing ties forever with the Suin who had difficultly opened their hearts.

“Therefore, those who wish to include Suin in their party must purchase and carefully read my ‘Introduction to Suin Studies’ or listen to the basic precautions before making a decision.”

“If you form a party with them and later find out that you can’t work together because you didn’t know the precautions, your relationship will sour, so please keep this in mind.”

A briefing delivered with the air of a Guild Representative, speaking on behalf of other receptionists who were unfamiliar with Suin.

“Ooh.”

“Amazing. That’s quite helpful.”

“So, if you just bring a lot of water, you can seduce a black frog Suin…?”

“Then, if we put a fat priest in the party, we can extract broth from their body and use that broth to continuously hydrate the black frog Suin!”

“I don’t think that’s physiologically possible…I have a feeling their affection would just decrease normally…”

While desperately correcting the adventurer’s misconception, the black frog Suin who had been eavesdropping on our conversation in the corner were looking at us with satisfaction.

“They know quite a bit.”

“Where did they learn that kind of knowledge?”

“Information you wouldn’t know unless you had a genuine interest in black frog Suin.”

The black frog beastwoman chieftain slid her tongue, oh so gently, around my wrist.

“Of course, it’s because you’re a good man that I recognize it. A truly good man acknowledges a woman’s strengths and understands what troubles her.”

“Ah~ I think I understand, Chieftain. You mean a man who is attentive and supportive of his partner?”

“Yes, exactly that.”

“I’ve heard rumors that such men exist among humans.”

“So different from our males, who only develop thick thighs for constant fleeing, hopping around carelessly to escape being exploited! Isn’t that right, Chieftain!”

“Indeed. I feel safe because you don’t resist even when I wrap my tongue around you and leave my saliva. Human males have a sense of stability; it doesn’t feel like they will run away.”

From behind the reception desk, Gorgo, who had been silently pumping iron, could take it no longer. His face reddened as he shouted.

“What kind of s*xual harassment are you subjecting this kid to! Among humans, if you do something like that or make suggestive jokes to a young boy before he’s an adult, you get thrown in prison!”

“Really?!”

“What about tongues?!”

“Are tongues forbidden too?!”

“Surely just a little tongue is alright!”

“Couldn’t we get away with a close call?”

“That is obscene. As far as I’m concerned, such actions are unacceptable. It’s not a ‘close call’; it is decidedly wrong.”

“Oh, blast!”

“That’s too much!”

“Little male, is that the truth?”

The black frog beastwomen wore the most sorrowful expressions, lamenting the existence of such cruel laws.

Although Gorgo may have spoken rather sternly, it was clear that my misguided behavior could lead to the black frog beastwomen mistreating other human boys.

As a representative of my species, I needed to maintain some sense of balance to avoid planting incorrect information.

“Gorgo is right.”

The black frog beastwoman chieftain, crestfallen, slowly unwound her tongue from my wrist.

I reached out and gently grasped the retreating tongue with my hand.

Agitation flickered in the chieftain’s eyes.

“You said it wasn’t allowed, so why are you holding it?”

“Regardless of human ethical principles, I am aware of what the act of being held by a black frog beastwoman’s tongue signifies.”

“Re-really?!”

“While black frog beastmen have achieved biological advancement that has made their lower bodies developed to easily leap and run away, black frog beastwomen evolved small, slender, and light bodies with long, elastic tongues to hunt and take care of the family.”

To those who viewed beastfolk with disgust, it may have been a repulsive and sordid evolution, but to me, it showed the sad reasons why they had no choice but to evolve that way.

“Black frog beastmen don’t take responsibility. There’s a story that they developed their lower bodies to run away from strong females trying to take advantage of them, but that’s just a lie they concocted.”

This was secret knowledge, unknown to most black frog beastfolk, only accessible after scoring high on the beastology aptitude test.

“Black frog beastmen eat the food the females hunt and complete the agreed-upon reproduction. Then, they run away and seduce other females to eat the food those females hunt. If they can pull off this reproduction scam, they can easily feed themselves without reproducing, evolving to be irresponsible.”

Even the humans listening couldn’t help but curse.

“Have you ever seen such scoundrels!”

“So they’re just male gold diggers?”

“What a bunch of hoodlums!”

Condemnation for those who do not pay a fair price and the grief of a female whose goodwill has been exploited have the power to make people weep and rage, regardless of species.

“The reason black frog beastwomen have long tongues and can inject paralyzing substances with their saliva is because they desperately want to grab those males with their tongues and prevent them from leaving – it’s like humans grabbing at pant legs.”

A great sense of guilt washed over the human adventurers.

“To flick the back of my neck, then stick out their tongue and pretend another one did it – so that wasn’t the reason their tongues were so long! They just tapped my shoulder like a normal person calling out to me, right?”

“Eh? I *was* trying to tease you, though.”

“T-then, what meaning was behind sticking out that long, scarlet tongue and licking the back of my hand?!”

“Eh? That was to seduce you.”

The atmosphere between the humans and beastmen abruptly turned awkward.

I thought they were just pitiful sorts, but something felt off.

“Ahem. Anyway, please don’t hate the female black frog beastmen too much. It’s not s*xual harassment, they’re just afraid of being abandoned, and because they don’t have anyone to depend on in a strange environment, they nervously wrap their tongues around people they can trust, people they don’t want to lose.”

The cat beastman guard who joined the Sodom Village with the black frog beastmen wagged his tail with an understanding look.

“Cat beastmen wrap their tails around the legs of people they’re close to when they’re insecure, too!”

“T-that’s right. I was feeling insecure too. Wrapping my tongue around the little male’s wrist was because I was anxious, not because I was marking my future groom or coveting him!”

“Is that so… it was my mistake for not understanding the racial differences. I sincerely apologize for making you uncomfortable with my needless words.”

Gorgon-ssi suppressed the nagging feeling that something still wasn’t right, and honestly apologized.

Could it be a side effect of the brainwashing?

I felt sadness at Gorgon-ssi’s inability to trust people honestly, and his suspicious nature.

“Little male. Are you upset? Want me to touch you with my tongue?”

“I’m alright.”

“You can touch my tail too, nya! I’ll make a special exception for the little male, nya!”

“Tsk… no matter how I look at it, this is suspicious…”

To think that even such kind beastmen could be suspected, the side effects of brainwashing, and the people who became paranoid – those must be the heavy original sins that the wicked brainwasher had to bear.