Chapter 149: Fire Carp (4)
Translator: bjgoofy
Hwa-eun and Seol noona had stared wide-eyed in shock when I suddenly rushed over, snatched the lantern, and lowered it close to the water's surface.
But the moment they saw the bizarre sight of the lantern's flame streaming along the surface and being sucked into the tadpole's mouth, they both cried out with disbelief written across their faces.
"The fi-, the fire is being sucked into the tadpole's mouth!"
"The tadpole is eating fire!?"
Heedless of their startled cries, the tadpole kept swallowing the flame.
A thin ribbon of fire rippled along the water's surface and slid down the tadpole's throat, gulp after gulp.
Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. The scene of a tadpole inhaling flame stretched on and on.
'This is insane!'
A tadpole, swallowing fire. An utterly unbelievable sight.
Watching it, I felt as if sparks were flying behind my own eyes.
And for good reason: fire was every man's romance, was it not?
Passion, fighting spirit, all those things were symbolized by the color red, and fire, flames, blazes were the very crystallization of that symbolism.
Whatever creature this thing would grow into, the fact that a tadpole was swallowing fire meant it fed on flames. Which meant there was a high probability that when it matured, it would become some kind of fire-wielding frog or toad. Naturally, I couldn't help but shudder with excitement.
On top of being a symbol of manliness, this meant the creature had a fire attribute.
'How could anyone resist a fire attribute?'
And as I watched the tadpole devour the flames, I realized that the nuns' earlier remarks, which I'd dismissed as unimportant, were actually tremendously significant.
The complaint about oil running out of the lamps whenever they went down after bathing.
Most likely, this little one had been secretly siphoning off the heat.
Normally, it would need to consume fire directly like this, but there was no way the nuns would ever bring a lantern close to the water. So it had barely survived by drawing faint traces of heat from lanterns far away, just enough to keep itself alive.
Now I had a vague understanding of why the creature had remained in this state for ten years, unable to grow any larger.
If fire was its food, then barring volcanic areas or wildfires, it wouldn't be easy to find in nature. For that reason, it probably had the ability to gorge itself on fire when the opportunity arose and rapidly mature into its adult form.
Some desert toads could go from tadpole to full-grown toad within a brief window of about ten days when the rains came. This creature was probably similar.
'You poor thing. You've been barely scraping by all this time? Well, not scraping, fire-scraping, I suppose?'
That was when it happened.
I was watching the little one frantically gulping down the stream of fire with pity in my eyes when the flame abruptly cut off.
I quickly held the lantern up to the moonlight to check, and sure enough, the oil in the lamp inside the lantern had been completely drained.
"You must have been terribly hungry."
"Has the lamp run out of oil?"
"Yes. It seems it was so starved that it devoured the flame in a frenzy."
"Oh, the poor thing."
All of us were people who loved creatures, whether venomous or wild.
Determined to give the little one a proper meal, Seol noona and Hwa-eun were about to start gathering branches.
"Shall I go fetch some oil? Or should we build a big fire by the water?"
"Should we? Build a big fire?"
The tadpole, having consumed all the flame, swam toward me and began scrambling up the rock, wriggling its body.
"Oh my! That little one is climbing up the rock!"
"Oh, how adorable. Is it trying to say thank you for the food?"
"So you can even climb rocks, can you?"
I'd thought all it could do was swallow fire, but the creature had all sorts of talents.
When I tried to peel it off and put it back in the water, I felt its belly stick fast to my hand.
"What's this!?"
"What is it?"
"What, Soryong?"
My eyes went wide with surprise, and the two of them asked why.
I ran my fingers over my palm and answered their question.
"Its belly sticks to things."
"It sticks? Then could it have clung to a rock or something and traveled here that way?"
Based on the way it had climbed the rock and what I'd said about its belly sticking, Hwa-eun floated the idea that maybe the creature had crawled here from somewhere else, ending up in this pond. But the evidence that its belly could adhere to surfaces probably pointed to a different reason.
I shook my head and explained.
"No. Most likely, this one's parents used to carry it on their backs."
"Carry it?"
"On their backs?"
The concept was unfamiliar to Seol noona and Hwa-eun, but amphibians had an incredibly diverse range of reproductive methods.
The female of the Surinam toad, known as the Pipa frog, would tumble through the water when laying eggs, pressing them onto her own back. Then the female's skin would grow over the eggs, and the baby toads would emerge as if sprouting from holes in their mother's back.
Those images that sometimes circulated online as trypophobia-inducing pictures, tiny toads being born from holes in a toad's back, that was exactly what it looked like.
Then there were the golden poison dart frogs of the Amazon. After the female laid her eggs and left, the male would tend to them alone.
The male would carry the hatched tadpoles on his back, searching for pools of standing water during the rainy season until each tadpole grew into a frog.
Because poison dart frogs were so small, they laid their eggs in tiny pools of water collected on plant leaves to avoid predators. But since that water could dry up, the parents would transport the young on their backs.
Being a tropical region, water evaporated quickly there.
"Then where did this little one's mom or dad go?"
"Hard to say. If it has the trait of being carried by its parents, normally the parents would look after it until it becomes a frog or a toad.... Given that it's been abandoned like this, its parents probably died during a typhoon or something."
"Oh, the poor dear.... We have to make sure it gets a proper meal today, at least."
When I pushed the little one back into the water as it kept trying to crawl out, Hwa-eun and Seol noona moved to go find branches.
I stopped them both.
"Hold on. Let's leave it at just this much for today."
"Why? This little one hasn't had a proper meal in ten years!"
"She's right! Soryong, it's pitiful. Let's feed it more."
The two of them were making a fuss about how sorry they felt for it, but if we stuffed it full today and its hind legs sprouted, we might not be able to take the creature with us when we left.
"Some species of frogs and toads can reach their adult form in just a few days if they eat well enough. If this one grows up, Botaam Temple might not let us take it."
And for good reason: if it turned out to be a frog, that would be one thing. But if it was a toad, Buddhism regarded toads as great spiritual creatures.
"Ah, if it's a toad, then certainly...."
In Buddhism, toads were treated as spiritual creatures whether they truly were or not.
It was said that while a toad remained in the water, it moved freely like a fish, but once it climbed onto land and appeared before people, it took on the responsibilities and obligations of a human being. Toads were also depicted in Buddhism as Dharma Protector Guardians who safeguarded the Buddhist teachings.
And that wasn't all.
There was the saying "spitting coins for the people", referring to how toads symbolized the blessing of wealth, spewing money to give to humans.
So if it became known that this creature was a toad, Botaam Temple would not easily give it up.
No matter that the princess had asked them to hand it over, the ownership still technically belonged to Botaam Temple.
"Ah.... Well, if it's a spiritual creature residing on Sacred Peak...."
"Right. Even nuns might be tempted."
"True.... If this little one turns out to be a toad, the temple would never let it go."
Hwa-eun and Seol noona nodded at my words.
I stroked the head of the little creature that kept climbing onto the rock from the water, as if begging to be taken along, and spoke.
"Just be patient for a day or two. I'll come back for you soon, I promise. I'll feed you until you're stuffed then. Understood?"
At that, the little one slipped back into the water, poked its head above the surface, and stared at me for a long moment before turning away and vanishing beneath the water.
"It understood, right?"
"It's a spiritual creature, after all, so I'd think so."
"Soryong, we need to rescue that little one as soon as possible."
"Agreed."
Just as the three of us were resolving together to rescue the creature that had barely survived for ten long years, the sun began to rise from the eastern horizon far in the distance.
***
"We will take the Fire Carp with us as soon as our ship is ready."
First thing in the morning, we went to the Sword Empress and informed her of our decision to take the Fire Carp immediately.
The Sword Empress nodded readily, saying she had intended to give it to us from the start.
"Of course. Ji-ryeon promised, so naturally it should be given. So, how do you plan to transport it?"
"Our ship is currently at the largest island in the Zhoushan Archipelago, so one of us will go and bring the ship here. Would you permit us to dock at the pier?"
Our plan was to bring the ship close to the pier first.
Then, using Cho like a firefighting helicopter, we would fill a leather pouch with water and transfer it to the ship.
When I asked whether we could berth the ship, the Sword Empress agreed without hesitation.
Though there was one condition.
"By all means. However, do not let any men set foot on the island. I worry that my disciples might be visited by inner demons if they see men."
I had been curious about why men were forbidden from the island. It seemed to be out of concern that the nuns might become flustered at the sight of men.
It certainly reminded me of my previous life, when I'd gone to an all-girls high school to drop off an umbrella for the older girl who lived across the street. The girls there had gone absolutely wild.
'A boy! A boy is here!' Some of them had been shouting things like that at the top of their lungs.
'That really startled me back then.'
"Understood. Oh, and I'll need to draw some water from Moon Reflection Pool on Sacred Peak. Would it be alright for my daughters to disembark from the ship and climb Sacred Peak?"
The ship issue was resolved, and next I needed permission for Cho to ascend Sacred Peak.
When I asked, the Sword Empress looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Your daughters? Anyone other than men is fine, but... would your daughters be of any help? How old are they?"
Given my age, she probably assumed that any daughter of mine would still be an infant.
"Ah, they're young in age, but they aren't human, so it should be fine."
"Not human?"
"That's right. They're not human; they're centipedes. I should probably let your disciples know in advance, so they won't be startled."
"C-centipedes? Your daughters are centipedes?"
"Yes, about twenty feet long. They fly through the air."
"Wh-what are you even...?"
With each question, I explained in a bit more detail, but the Sword Empress only blinked faster, looking even more confused than before.
***
Seol noona took a ferry to go retrieve the ship we had brought, while the rest of us hurried to prepare for departure.
First, we set up a large water barrel borrowed from Botaam Temple at the pier and, with the help of the temple's nuns, hauled water back and forth to fill it.
I had said we'd draw water once Cho arrived, but the Sword Empress had offered to have her disciples carry it instead as part of their training.
"Are you taking the water from Moon Reflection Pool because of its quality?"
"Pardon? Yes. Something like that."
We kept our plan to take Moon Shadow a secret for now. [TL: I checked, and the tadpole was previously not named, but now it is named "Moon Shadow" (derived from "Moon Reflection Pool").]
The Sword Empress knew how fond her disciples were of Moon Shadow, so she had told us to break the news at the last moment and whisk it away quickly.
After filling the water barrel to the brim and waiting, our ship came into view in the distance around midday.
Cho launched herself vigorously from the deck and flew straight toward us.
She must have found the days apart hard to bear.
Tied to her body was the leather pouch I had asked to have prepared in advance.
-Tsurur!
'Yeah, Daddy missed you too. Hurry, let's head over there.'
-Tsurur?
I told her to fly toward Sacred Peak, but when the word "Daddy" reached her through our mental link, Cho tilted her head and looked over my outfit.
I flinched and explained again.
'L-look, only women are allowed in here, so I had to borrow some of Mom's clothes, okay?'
After explaining once more to Cho why I was wearing women's clothing, we arrived at Sacred Peak. Moon Shadow was already waiting at the water's edge, as if it had figured out from the earlier water-fetching that the time had come.
"Cho, say hello. This is Moon Shadow. Your new older sister? Older brother? In any case, Moon Shadow is older than you, so be nice."
-Tsurur.
Moon Shadow looked younger in appearance, but Moon Shadow was ten years old while Cho was only one.
As if exchanging genuine greetings, the tadpole and Cho regarded each other for a moment. Then I transferred Moon Shadow, along with water, into the leather pouch.
"Alright, let's go!"
And we hurried back to the pier.
But my plan to rush back and help Moon Shadow reach its adult form ground to a halt the moment we arrived at the pier.
"Wahhh.... Moon Shadow...."
"Master, you're giving Moon Shadow away."
"Sniff...."
It was as if someone had died. A chorus of wailing had broken out at the pier.
As expected, the cause was my taking Moon Shadow.
It was only natural that people would shed tears when parting with a pet they'd raised. Before the pier, the Sword Empress stood watching her younger disciples cry and carry on, wearing a troubled expression.
The older disciples were holding themselves together, but the younger ones had apparently fallen apart at the news that Moon Shadow was going to a new home.
"What is all this."
I climbed down to the pier and shot a bewildered look toward the Sword Empress, and Seol noona hurried over to me.
She leaned in and whispered by my ear.
[You said this kind of thing would be fine, didn't you? Do something about it.]
'Ah, this calls for the last resort....'
I steeled myself and whispered back into Seol noona's ear.
[Seol noona, please tell them this.]
[Tell them what?]
[That this one is 'male'.]
[!]
Seol noona's eyes went wide at my words.
A moment later, she turned toward the Sword Empress and addressed the crowd.
"E-everyone. Young Miss Tang So-eun says there is a reason she has no choice but to take this little one."
A clamor of questions immediately followed.
"What reason could there possibly be for taking Moon Shadow!?"
"That's right!"
"Why are you taking it!?"
In response, Seol noona stammered out an explanation.
"Apparently, this one is 'male.' And males, even animals, aren't permitted on Sacred Peak, isn't that right?"
The young nuns' faces went blank.
One of them, looking unconvinced, challenged her.
"How are we supposed to believe that!"
"Yeah!"
If they wouldn't believe it, then showing them was only natural.
I took Moon Shadow out and extended its belly side forward, then signaled Seol noona to explain.
[Now tell them we'll prove whether it's male or female.]
[What!?]
They refused to believe it, so what else could I do?
We'd just have to strip it down and show them.
"She says she'll show you right now. Whether it's female or male."
"What!? Show us!? Sh-show us what!? Kyaaah!"
"Kyaaaaaah!"
I had genuinely wanted to give them a thorough demonstration, but the moment the nuns heard Seol noona's explanation, they screamed and scrambled off the pier in a panic.
Watching them flee, Seol noona turned to me with a dumbfounded expression.
"That was your method? But is it true? Is this thing really male?"
If I could tell male from female at the tadpole stage, I would have made a fortune in my previous life.
I smiled and answered.
"Who knows?"
*****
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