Monsters Wag Their Tails Only at Me Chapter 27

We sat facing each other with a one-ter safety distance between us. Arms folded, we kept our eyes locked.

I had more than a few things I wanted to grill that bastard about, but the mory of him shedding those hen-dropping tears last night kept flickering up.

Well, what can I do. The adult has to give way.

“Ha... you want to ask a lot of things, don’t you?”

“Yes. Tell why you lied to , and what it is you want from .”

I felt wretched. I wanted nothing more than to flop onto my back and spin in circles insisting I wasn’t the one who did those things.

But I’d realized sothing last night. I might not know what kind of bastard Ceryl Aylos used to be, but among the things he left behind there are things that help , and things that saved my life.

If I’m going to live as Ceryl and use those advantages, then I have to shoulder the opposite side as well.

“Killing monsters and ordering you to eat their corpses.”

“......”

“Yes. All of that was done by Ceryl Aylos. Not a misunderstanding. No room for excuses.”

At my plain confession, Varen’s face turned pale. I thought he would explode with thunderous fury, but instead his blue eyes filled with water.

Ah. So this is why drama leading n always carry handkerchiefs.

“Stop crying. When you cry, I get soft.”

Varen’s big eyes widened. He didn’t let the tears fall, but he glared at with them trembling on the brink.

“It’s true that all of it was done by Ceryl Aylos. But none of it was done by .”

“...What does that an.”

I steadied myself. Thank god I’d prepared an excuse in advance for the day this would co.

“A few months ago, I had a big accident. I lost my mory then.”

“......”

“So everything Ceryl Aylos did before he lost his mory—I don’t rember any of it. To be honest, I didn’t know at all.”

It was a mixture of vague truth and lies. As expected, Varen snorted and turned his head.

I kept going, building a more concrete alibi.

“It’s true. You said you lost your mories from magical aftereffects. I’m similar.”

“......”

“On the way from my hotown to the Facility, the story goes I was ambushed by bandits. Barely survived, but—”

“Ceryl. Stop.”

Right as I was getting into the scenario, Varen cut off.

His winter-cold eyes fixed on , freezing in place, then he sighed as if suffocating.

“Why do you keep lying.”

“I’m not lying.”

“When humans lie, they instinctively tense up. They release a distinctive body scent.”

The hell is he talking about. A scent when lying? Even if that were true, not even a dog could sll that.

“You lied to from the beginning.”

Varen lifted his head again and t my eyes. Sothing in his gaze looked sad, and it froze my three-inch tongue solid.

“Ceryl Aylos. That’s not your na.”

That brought back our first eting. When I introduced myself, Varen imdiately sensed it was a false na.

It would be better if he just cornered and asked why I’d deceived him. Instead, he fell into hellish silence after saying that.

I opened my mouth and closed it again several tis. The little gears in my mind spun frantically, then jamd and gave up.

“Ha... so you already knew everything.”

My mouth tasted bitter.

Ceryl Aylos being a false na, the things the previous one did—none of it was my choice. And yet Varen’s trust in had crumbled because of them. It crushed my chest.

And at the sa ti, sothing in Varen’s behavior began to make no sense to .

“If you knew Ceryl Aylos wasn’t my real na, why did you call Ceryl?”

“Because you wanted to be called that.”

Varen answered without a shred of hesitation.

“...You knew from the start I’d lied. Why did you trust ?”

“Because aside from that, everything else was sincere.”

His voice ca again without delay, settling coldly.

But—sorry, and ridiculously enough—my mouth corners kept climbing anyway, completely ignoring the mood.

“Why are you smiling?”

“...Because I’m grateful.”

“For what.”

“For trusting .”

Varen imdiately bared his teeth, frowning. Dragons’ growling habits didn’t go away even in human form.

Even with the irritation pouring off him, I couldn’t stop the stray laughter.

Not that lying works anyway, but honestly, I can’t lie to him.

“Fine. I’ll be honest. The thing about ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) having an accident a few months ago—that was a lie.”

“I figured.”

“But it’s true that I don’t have mories of the past. The Ceryl who slaughtered monsters and the sitting here now are different people.”

Varen’s eyes narrowed. Probably focusing to detect any hint of falsehood.

But this ti, there wasn’t even a sliver to catch. I squared my shoulders and t him head-on.

“Why did you lose your mory?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“So since lying doesn’t work, you won’t say anything at all.”

“Yes. Which is why I told you not to ask.”

Varen blinked slowly, thinking.

“It must be the sa reason you knew my na.”

“You’re smart.”

I couldn’t tell him I was a transmigrator or that this was a novel world.

Even if he could believe it, I couldn’t say: Actually, you’re a side character—an antagonist at that. You slaughtered countless monsters.

Varen, apparently confused, said nothing. Watching him, I gave a small shrug.

“It may be hard to believe, but I truly want to help you now, and I want to save the monsters.”

“......”

“Just trust one more ti.”

We quietly held each other’s gaze. There was no more wariness or anger in Varen’s eyes.

Only countless waves of hesitation and confusion. A pure being showed its emotions without filter.

After a long stretch of thought, Varen let out a short sigh.

“I’m trusting you because I have no one else to trust.”

“So you an if soone more trustworthy shows up, you’ll throw away?”

“...That’s not it.”

His face was still sulky as he said it. I laughed aloud and held out my right pinky.

“I won’t lie to you ever again.”

Varen stared at the tip of my offered finger. After hesitating, he slowly reached out and wrapped his finger around mine.

I was the one who insisted we keep a safety distance, yet that disarming gesture made get up and sit closer.

“This is how you do it. Hook your pinkies, then stamp with your thumbs.”

“Is it magic.”

“You call everything magic. No, it’s not.”

We tightened our hooked fingers and pressed thumbs together firmly.

“Sothing stronger than magic.”

“What is it. A contract?”

“No. Sothing even stronger. If you break it, the other person gets hurt.”

A flicker of fear passed through Varen’s eyes. I only smiled.

“A promise.”

“...A promise?”

“Yeah. I promise I won’t deceive you again.”

His bewildered eyes bounced between my face and our joined hands. I tapped his cheek lightly with my free hand and stood.

With our hands separated, Varen opened and closed his fingers, looking up at .

“Let’s go. Because of the ruckus you caused yesterday—oh, right! Hey! Damn it, I have a lot of things to grill you about too!”

I thought we’d cleared everything up, but that was only half of it.

I had a whole bucket’s worth of questions myself.

“You said you could fly—why did you lie about that? And you could humanize the whole ti!”

“......”

“And how did you know my situation? Did you overhear what Jed and I were talking about?”

Varen glanced aside, clearly hit in the mark.

I’d put on a circus under the moonlight just to keep the Dragon Hunters away from him. Suddenly, the back of my neck throbbed.

“Ha... what were you doing just listening to that. If dangerous humans got that close, you should’ve considered running.”

“No need to run.”

“It wasn’t just one or two. There were more than twenty—how did you even—”

“......”

“Look in the eyes. You can use all your magic, can’t you?”

I grabbed his chin and turned his face back to . His face turned, but his blue eyes slid away again.

“You think you’re the only one who notices lies? I’m not falling for yours anymore.”

“...You did.”

“You little—!”

I wanted to smack him, but the one whose hand would shatter was mine, so I held back and pounded my own chest instead.

“You—you liked being in dragon form better.”

“Why.”

Why do you think. Because when you say the sa things in dragon form, I don’t get pissed off.

Varen, who’d been looking up at with that insolent slant, suddenly shot to his feet. The sudden rise in height and the pressure of his build made step back automatically.

I didn’t want to look intimidated, so I raised my voice louder to hide it.

“And how could you just breathe fire like that. You nearly killed all the Facility monsters.”

“They didn’t die. I only set fire to the buildings where humans were.”

“Idiot. The whole place is wood; it would’ve spread imdiately.”

“...I didn’t think of that.”

He might know how to use fire, but he’s got a long way to go before he can handle it properly.

The original Varen and the Varen in front of were different people, but the things he’d done in the novel still lingered in like trauma.

So the simple fact that he hadn’t intended to kill the monsters put at ease. That didn’t an I was unaffected, though.

“You tried to kill too, didn’t you?”

“That’s not it. I already knew you were running away.”

Varen answered in a rush, stepping directly in front of .

It was a relief if he’d had no intention of killing , but that didn’t align with the frenzied roar of my na I’d heard then.

“I thought if I waited, you’d co back and make excuses. But then you suddenly ran, and I got so angry that—”

“Then you should’ve gotten angry at . Why did you set fires?”

“You said it yourself. If I ran, the Facility humans would chase after .”

“Thorough of you. So you killed them? To keep them from chasing?”

“No.”

Varen straightened his chest as if expecting praise, looking down at .

“I killed them all because you were worried.”