Chapter 37: The Inspection, the Brother, and the Servant

After the old man left, Orvo thoroughly examined my body using various spiritual arts. Unlike Georg, he didn’t use offensive spells but simply illuminated my body with different colored lights, which didn’t cause any pain. Personally, I felt relieved by that alone.

“Now then, are you ready for a little pinch?” Orvo said with a smirk.

With that, he took out a cylindrical object that had a needle attached to it, which was basically a syringe. He was probably going to draw my blood with it. Although it was thinner than the needle I was used to, it still looked like it would hurt when it pierced my skin.

As I thought about that, my body underwent a change. The color of the skin that was not covered by the exoskeleton suddenly started changing. Before I knew it, my entire body was covered by a sturdy exoskeleton.

“Oh, looks like you still can’t control it? Did it react to an external stimulus? Anyway, don’t worry, the change is according to my design. It may look like human skin, but it’s actually a softened exoskeleton. Hence, If you want, you can harden it to protect yourself in an instant,” Orvo explained.

I realized that’s how it worked. I examined my body with my compound eyes. When I saw that my entire body was covered in an exoskeleton like armor, just as it was when I was a scorpion, I felt relieved.

My sturdy exoskeleton hadn’t been lost, and that truly put my mind at ease. Attacks that would easily damage soft human skin wouldn’t work on me. In other words, it meant I was hard to kill.

“Even if your hands and feet are wrapped in armor, it doesn’t feel abnormal, right? I thought that this way you could disguise yourself as a regular human and infiltrate bases without being noticed by enemies. Well, it’s impossible with that small mistake, though.”

Hold on, wait a moment. You’re glossing over something important; what do you mean by a “small mistake”? Tell me more about that!

“Well, you’re still a scorpion, so you probably don’t understand the language. Since you have the brain of a human now, you can learn as we go along. Anyway, I’ll draw blood through the gaps in the exoskeleton now.”

Orvo didn’t seem to think that I could understand language, as he injected the needle into the joint of my elbow without explaining in detail. The joint had to be moved, so it was unavoidable that no exoskeleton was covering it.

The needle prick hurt, but I gritted my teeth and kept myself from making any sound. The pain wasn’t enough to warrant controlling my sensory perception and enduring it.

“Now, next is to collect some saliva. Open your mouth, please.”

“Ngahh…!?”

Following his command, I opened my mouth and saw familiar small pincers in my field of vision. Apparently, the pincers grew from my lower jaw and were normally folded and stored in the cheek area. 

The small pincers were naturally covered by the exoskeleton, so most likely, the entire lower jaw was covered by the exoskeleton as well. I wondered if this eccentric mouth would be too unusual to pass as a human. Plus, come to think of it, I had four compound eyes on my forehead. It would be impossible to pass as a human with this. This must be the mistake Orvo was talking about.

“Yes, we’re done for today. That’s enough,” Orvo said as he inserted a stick into my wide-open mouth and stirred it around before leaving the confinement room. With the command gone, I closed my mouth and let all the tension drain from my body.

At the same time, my skin returned to its original softness. Controlling this was also something I had to train and develop. Well, I was used to training during my alone time. In fact, I was happy to have more ways to pass the time.

However, there was one more thing I wanted to practice. It didn’t require any fighting spirit or spiritual power, but it was something I had never been able to do as a scorpion and had no knowledge of how to do it.

“G-g-guh…,” 

What I was trying to do was practice vocalization. I had mysterious knowledge since birth, and that knowledge included the common language spoken in the Enzo continent, called Dito. That’s why I could understand Young Master and Georg’s conversation from the beginning.

However, in reality, it was difficult to actually pronounce the words. Even if I could understand it, speaking was challenging. In addition, the structure of my throat was different from that of humans, much like the structure of the lower jaw. As a result, only muffled sounds resembling the growling of a beast came out of my mouth.

It seems like it will be quite a struggle to be able to have a normal conversation. Orvo, could this be another mistake on his part?

No, after all, I was the world’s first synthetic beast of the human species. Perhaps he didn’t consider the ability to understand and produce human language. Maybe my voice didn’t matter at all, but the result of this guttural voice was terrible.

“Gag… Gogigijiba… Gobaa…”

How did “hello” become “gogigijiba”? Even my sighs turned into unpleasant noises. It seems I will have to live with this voice for the rest of my life… It’s tougher than I thought.

I repeated simple words and practiced my voice over and over again. I couldn’t imagine that this voice would get any better, but without practice, I wouldn’t even be able to speak. There was a lot to do, from controlling my fighting spirit and spiritual arts, to controlling my exoskeleton, to practicing my voice. The tasks piled up.

(Hmm, someone’s coming.)

I stopped my vocal exercises, returned my exoskeleton to its normal state, and closed my eyelids to feign sleep. Even with my eyes closed, my compound eyes could see the room perfectly well.

The one who entered through the door was a male of the Furu race, wearing a robe similar to Orvo’s. I couldn’t see his face due to the hood, but the skin color of his partially visible hand was pale, and he looked quite delicate.

Perhaps fooled into thinking I was asleep with my closed eyelids, the male began touching my body with his bony, skinny hand without any courtesy. It felt uncomfortable to be touched in various places, but I couldn’t fight back, so I endured it.

He twisted his face into an ugly expression and spat out, “You really think you’ve succeeded…damn it!” Then he struck my face with his hand. However, the untrained male’s fist didn’t cause me any pain or discomfort. It was just a surprise, nothing more.

On the contrary, he groaned and held his own fist, as if hurting after striking my hard jaw. What did you intend to do? And first of all, who are you? If I had the freedom to move, I would kill you right here.

The male glared at me with animosity. It would be troublesome to be resented, even though it was completely his fault… Oh? Although the sound was faint, I heard another set of footsteps. It was definitely not Orvo’s, but I could hardly gather any information about the person from the footsteps.

They must have learned the technique of reducing footstep sounds. Who could it be? With my eyelids still closed, I patiently waited for the arrival of someone stealthy.

“You’re taking this too far, master Karelvo.”

“What!? Mika, is that you? Don’t startle me!”

Karelvo, the male who seemed to be called by that name, hadn’t noticed Mika’s arrival due to the latter’s silent footsteps. He was taken by surprise when he was addressed, but upon seeing Mika, a member of the Furu race who had arrived, Karelvo felt relieved and scolded him simultaneously, suggesting a master-servant relationship between them.

As for Karelvo, I decided to leave him be for now, as my attention was drawn to this intriguing male named Mika. He appeared to be a middle-aged man, younger than Georg, with sleek gray hair swept back. He had a tall stature, sharp eyes, and a well-groomed chin beard that suited him perfectly. His clothing resembled that of a servant in a lord’s mansion, but he wore an eye patch over his right eye.

Mika exuded strength, not just in his physical prowess, but also in his fighting spirit. His spiritual power may not have been particularly potent, but his battle-ready demeanor matched, if not exceeded, my own. Additionally, he displayed remarkable skill in concealing his true strength and moving with stealth, indicating a high level of expertise. If it came to a battle, I knew I would face considerable challenge in this unfamiliar body.

“That creature over there is a synthetic beast created by Master Orvo,” Karelvo said.

“Hmph! I know that already. I just wanted to check if he didn’t mess up, as his older brother,” Karelvo continued with a smug tone.

“…You had agreed not to interfere in each other’s research and creations, didn’t you?” Mika interjected.

From the conversation that unfolded while I was examining, it appeared that Karelvo was Orvo’s older brother, and their relationship was strained, judging from the atmosphere. Mika seemed to be caught in the middle and looked troubled.

“Well, then, why did you come here?” Karelvo asked.

“I have been instructed by Master Orvo to bring a meal for that creature,” Mika replied, holding a dish with a silver cover in both hands. “I have brought it as per his instructions.”

Ah, that must be my food. I’m grateful that they brought it, as I have no idea how much nourishment this body requires!

Upon hearing that, Karelvo snorted disapprovingly and then smirked unabashedly with a wicked expression. What unnecessary thing is he planning to do this time?

“Is this the food for the synthetic beast? Show me,” he demanded.

Mika hesitated for a moment, but then opened the lid and revealed the contents. On the plate were several pieces of bread, grilled meat and fish, and a soup with vegetables. I didn’t know much about the customs of the Furu race, but the bread on the plate looked finer than what slaves would typically be given. It might be a relatively lavish meal.

Ah, I wonder if I can eat vegetables? I’ve only been eating poisonous raw meat so far, so I’m not sure. Is it okay because I’m mixed with the Reka race member’s body? I’m starting to feel scared about eating this!

“Hey, hey, isn’t this human food? Shouldn’t the food for the synthetic beast be like this!” Karelvo exclaimed.

Karelvo took something out of his sleeve and spilled it onto the plate. It was a toxic-looking liquid with a strong, pungent odor that reached my nose from here. Clearly, it wasn’t something that would be safe to eat. What the hell is this guy doing…!

“Master Karelvo…!” Mika exclaimed.

“What? This is a valuable nutrient supplement, you know? Or are you going to disregard my kindness, you useless servant?” Karelvo retorted with a sneer.

“No, of course not.”

“Then hurry up and feed the beast. Right now!” Karelvo demanded.

With no choice but to comply, Mika brought the food tainted with the filthy liquid in front of me. With a small voice, he apologized and brought the bread close to my mouth.

Karelvo must be enjoying seeing me struggle and Mika forcefully feeding me. I could just pretend to be asleep and ignore it… but I wanted to frustrate Karelvo. Alright, I’ll eat it!

“Gaa… gulp!”

“Eek!?”

I opened my three eyelids and used my cheek pincers to grab the bread, then brought it to my mouth and started chewing vigorously. Huh, so humanoid teeth and jaws can easily bite like this. It’s also softer compared to the bread I had as a slave, making it easy to swallow.

As for the taste… it’s better than what I had during my scorpion life. Humanoid tongues seem to be sensitive and constantly sending discomfort signals to my head. However, I could tolerate it enough to eat.

I extended my cheek pincers and kept devouring the food that Mika offered one after another. The speed at which I ate seemed to overwhelm not only Karelvo but also Mika.

“Munch munch… gulp.”

Okay, I finished eating. 

After I finished eating, I closed my eyes again, licked my cheek pincers with my tongue, tidied up, and stored them away before settling back into a relaxed position. Karelvo had been stiff for a while, but he angrily left the room, his face turning red and his shoulders hunched. Hehehe, it seems like I won this round!

Mika watched Karelvo’s back as he left for a moment, then shook his head and turned towards me. He smiled faintly and politely bowed his head.

*******

(TN: the small pincers near the jaw are actually scorpion characteristics, all scorpions have small claws or pincers near their mouth, i used to translate them as chelicerae, but now im using small pincers or small claws, i believe all translations are correct. search “scorpion small pincers near the mouth images” for more understanding)