Unedited chapter
44. Edgar Reveals His Feelings
If Shu Shu went through the inner demon tribulation, he would meet with many, many dreadful snakes and some certain dangers as well. Did he still want to pass through the tribulation?
Of course he did!
He was a daemon who could live for a long time, and a male to boot. How could he endure being pursued by beastmen? Besides . . . he was unable to give birth to children, ah!
If the beastmen pursuing him later found out that he was also a beastman and unable to give birth to children, they would definitely fall apart! Maybe they would even want to kill him!
Shu Shu’s mind was in a jumble. After pondering for a long time, he finally made a decision—he had to pass through the inner demon tribulation as soon as possible and become a beastman, so when the moment came . . . .
Shu Shu originally wanted to say that when the moment came, he would look for a sub-beastman to have a relationship with, but after thinking carefully, he felt that it was improbable. If he married a sub-beastman, then he definitely had to work hard to support his family and take care of the sub-beastman well . . . . The latter was no problem, but the former . . . .
He simply had no ability to support a family now.
Moreover, many of the sub-beastmen here were taller than him, and they seemed to like beastmen whose beast types were very bold and powerful . . . . He was just a little hamster, so he was likely to be disdained, right?
No matter, if worst came to worst and he did not marry a sub-beastman, he would just let his disciple keep him.
Thinking so, Shu Shu suddenly considered why Edgar sent him to study here. Could it be that his disciple wanted to marry him off and get rid of him?
No, no, the tuition fee was so expensive; Edgar surely wouldn’t go so far as to spend so much money to get rid of him . . . . Then, why the heck did Edgar send him here? If it was to study, Shu Shu reckoned that attending classes here was not better than studying on his own at home.
The more Shu Shu thought, the more muddled he was. In Synthia’s worried vision, Shu Shu had been in a tangle since lunch break.
"Shu Shu, what's wrong with you?" Synthia stared at Shu Shu for a long time and finally couldn't help but poke Shu Shu's arm and ask.
"Nothing . . ." Shu Shu returned to himself and listlessly sighed. Then he suddenly thought of something. "Synthia, what are your future plans for yourself?"
Synthia glanced at Shu Shu with a playful pout, and a blush appeared on his face. “Of course, I’m looking for a tall and handsome beastman who likes me, and then I’m going to marry him!"
Tall and handsome, ah. Shu Shu was even more depressed . . . . He supposed that since even a short and small sub-beastman like Synthia did not take a fancy to him, there was no further need to speak about other sub-beastmen . . . . In addition, he actually didn’t like sub-beastmen. Let’s say Synthia, he thought Synthia was good-looking, and he didn't dislike Synthia, but so long as he thought about the fact that this was a man, he simply couldn’t think of Synthia as soft and appealing.
"I love beastmen like the crown prince who’s tall and big and also has abilities! Unfortunately, no beastman has ever chased me . . . ." Synthia was still entangled in his own feelings.
The crown prince? Shu Shu’s heart gave a "thud", and he didn't know why he felt a little uncomfortable.
The first lesson in the afternoon was about art appreciation.
As a mere daemon who completely lacked painting foundation and appreciating eyes, Shu Shu thought that abstract painting was just painting at random. He simply couldn’t understand this lesson, plus he had a load in his heart, so he was even more deaf to the lecture. He ultimately passed the whole lesson in a daze.
Fortunately, the sub-beastmen in the class were about the same, and the teacher also wouldn’t ask any questions, so there was totally no problem in just going through the motions like this.
The last lesson of the day was unexpectedly "Understanding the Beastmen" that Jones taught.
Shu Shu formerly thought that this class was to introduce beastman facts to them, but now he already knew that this class was solely to help the sub-beastmen to find a partner.
Jones was a new teacher. He was quite famous before, but most of the students in the class didn't know him, and they didn't care about changing teacher. Therefore, Jones simply introduced himself and started the class directly.
"We’re going to talk about snake-type beastmen in this lesson." Jones, smiling at the students, said.
In the background, the sub-beastmen were somewhat lackadaisical. They used their communication devices to send messages and began to discuss what they were going to do after school. At this moment, Jones spoke again, "As everyone knows, the Crown Prince Edgar is a snake beastman."
In a flash, the sub-beastmen attending the class pricked their ears up.
Jones smiled and began to talk about the snake beastmen's tastes and weak points. He told some stories about the snake beastmen and also mentioned Edgar several times, making the students focus their attention. Some sub-beastmen even laughed and spoke up, "Teacher, when you talk about His Imperial Highness, don't tell things that everyone already knows. It's best to tell us things we don't know, ah!"
"Do you think that I, as a teacher, can know things you don't know?" Jones replied with a laugh and continued to talk about some habits of the snake beastmen. For example, when the temperature around them was too low, they would not want to budge. In ancient times, there was a snake beastman who accidentally hibernated, and he was thought as dead by his sub-beastman.
All the students listened with keen interest, and some of them were also having a discussion in a low voice, guessing whether the crown prince hibernated or not . . . . Seeing this scene, Shu Shu was faintly depressed. How come his disciple was so popular?!
Anyway, Edgar was not an ordinary snake. He grew feet and was a jiāo, so he would not hibernate!
While lecturing, Jones searched and found some videos of snake beastmen. Then he used the imaging device to present a three-dimensional image for the sub-beastmen to watch.
Shu Shu had been inadvertently off in la-la land, and when he came back to himself, he happened to see a big snake coiled in front of the classroom.
Suddenly seeing a big snake, Shu Shu reflexively wanted to run. Fortunately, before he ran, he discovered that the snake was just an image . . . . He breathed a sigh of relief and rested his upper body on the desktop.
Finding out that Shu Shu had actually been absent-minded for the whole lesson, Jones looked briefly at him in surprise. He specialized in studying beastmen, and he did surgeries on beastmen in their beast forms. He understood beastmen very well, and when he lectured, he also interspersed it with numerous stories . . . . Shu Shu actually didn't like to listen to them? And he didn’t even lift his head now?
No, he didn't dislike listening to them. In fact, he seemed to be afraid of snake?
Jones suddenly had some sympathy for Edgar.
Shu Shu didn't pay attention to the lesson, but other sub-beastmen in the class were listening very seriously.
Actually, a big part of the reason why the sub-beastmen who went to the skill class didn’t concentrate on listening to the lectures was because what the teachers taught was not useful to them, or they had already understood it.
For example, the previous lesson of art appreciation. People who didn't like or have no skill in this field were unable to make sense of what they were hearing, while those who had talent in this field . . . they most likely had already learned the knowledge taught by the teacher.
In this second class of the afternoon, Jones told many fresh facts and also talked a lot about his own experiences, and he even found some videos of fighting beastmen. The students naturally listened to his lesson happily and still wished to continue listening even after the class ended. Shu Shu was listless, though.
Other sub-beastmen all went out, but Shu Shu was still sitting in his seat, checking the communication device on his hand in low spirits.
Edgar had sent him a message and had him wait on his own for a while, saying that he would pick him up after work. Shu Shu saw the message but was not in the mood to reply at all.
Synthia didn't live on campus, and there was a family member who came to pick him up. He reluctantly left after class ended, leaving Shu Shu to wait alone inside the classroom.
"Why are you so dispirited and downcast?" Jones came over and asked, smiling.
"I didn't know that this class is a bridal class!" Shu Shu gritted his teeth, somewhat resentful.
"What about that? Do you think you can’t learn anything in the bridal class?" Jones continued, "I didn't even attend university at the beginning, but I still learned a lot of knowledge, didn’t I?"
"But . . ." But I was not a sub-beastman! Shu Shu was about to start speaking but swallowed the words back. He was different from the beastmen and the sub-beastmen in this place. He dared to tell Edgar this one bit, but he did not dare to tell Jones.
“It’s very difficult to take an entrance exam for the Imperial College. If you wish to go to other classes, you have to pass the exam.” Jones said again.
Shu Shu stared blankly, and then the whole person immediately became discontented and unhappy. As a matter of fact, what Jones said made sense. If he went to class at other schools, he reckoned that he would not be able to understand anything at all. But here . . . he more or less learned some knowledge.
"If you have a mind to learn more things, you can go visit other places, and you can also go to the library. No one will stop you." Jones said.
So, it’s actually like this . . . . Who knew that being considered as a sub-beastman was nevertheless not that great . . . . Shu Shu raised his head and asked, "Teacher Jones, I’m very afraid of snake. What do you think I must do so I can overcome the fear in my heart?"
Fear and hate were different. For example, some people just hated caterpillars. When a caterpillar fell on their bodies, although they would screech in disgust, but they still dared to catch and throw it away. People who feared caterpillars though . . . . They most likely would have a blank mind and not dare to move.
Shu Shu’s fear of snake was both inherent and acquired.
Edgar had saved and helped him a lot, had grown claws and already didn’t resemble a snake much, and would definitely not harm him. Still, when he saw Edgar, he would feel afraid. There’s no further need to speak about other snakes.
"Do you fear that snakes will harm you? Actually, you don't need to worry about them at all. You can prevent ordinary snakes from harming you as long as you carry some weapons and don’t go to dangerous areas. As for snake beastmen, beastmen won’t harm sub-beastmen.” Jones explained. "On the subject of you wanting to overcome your fear . . . . You don’t think of going to virtual space?"
"Virtual space?" Shu Shu asked, a bit curious.
"There’re now special virtual game machines. They can be used to play games and also can simulate some spaces according to your preferences. You use the virtual game machine to simulate a space with snakes, and then you go in and kill those snakes. After that, you definitely won’t be afraid of snake." Jones said with a laugh.
"It also can be like this? But I absolutely don't dare to kill any snakes." Shu Shu replied.
"In that case, when you set up the world, it'd be better to set all the snakes to run away as soon as they see you. Or you can make them look outlandish. Whatever works for you." Jones said.
You could still play it this way? Shu Shu’s eyes lit up.
After chatting with Jones, Shu Shu’s mood was much better. He took out an extracurricular reading material, chose the text to speech reader, and began to learn to recognize words.
Edgar rushed to the school after work and happened to see this scene.
The sub-beastman was engrossed in his reading. The two furry ears standing up looked so cute they made Edgar can’t help but want to touch and stroke them . . . . Taking a deep breath, Edgar pressed down the thought in his mind and arrived in front of Shu Shu in a few quick steps. "Let’s go."
"OK." Shu Shu nodded and stood up.
Edgar stood there, looking very competent, mature, and steady. If the sub-beastmen in the class saw him, maybe they would throw themselves at him and climb him . . . . Shu Shu gave Edgar a quick glare.
"Are you unhappy?" Edgar asked. Before, Shu Shu didn't return his message, making his heart in a mess. Now, Shu Shu glared at him, making him choked with worries.
"You still ask me! You actually sent me to attend the bridal class!" Shu Shu yelled. In the end, after making a complaint against Edgar, he recalled the words Jones had said and suddenly felt that what Edgar did could not be considered as something wrong. He immediately switched to other thing to make another complaint against, "Also, why’re you so popular? All my classmates actually like you!"
Edgar felt a bit guilty when he heard Shu Shu’s preceding words. But when he heard the latter words, his heart actually began to palpitate—could it be that the little sub-beastman felt jealous?
"How can it be like this? The sub-beastmen all like you. As for me . . . Synthia actually said that I’d soon be pursued by the beastmen . . . " Both of them were daemons; why was there such a big difference between them?! Shu Shu imagined that there might be beastmen pursuing him just like those who waited outside the classroom with bouquets of flowers and got goosebumps from head to foot.
Shu Shu's face looked very gloomy, which made Edgar feel anxious and start to frown. He felt Shu Shu was still too young, so he had never thought about revealing his feelings and only thought to let Shu Shu go to school for two more years . . . . He actually forgot that there were also other beastmen in this world!
In the beginning, that Jeress had made an attempt at Shu Shu. Now, it was the so many beastman students at the Imperial College . . . .
"I don't like any other sub-beastman; I only like you." Edgar suddenly and seriously stated.
Shu Shu felt like being struck by lightning. He slowly recovered before asking, "What did you say?"
"Shu Shu, I like you. You’re still young, so you don't have to agree right away, but please give me a chance to pursue you." Edgar confessed. It was said that his father fell in love with his mother at first sight and went to confess right away, and then the two men got married on the spur of the moment. Granted, he still had to wait to get married, but he could not let other beastmen be the first to confess.
I treat you as a disciple, but you actually desire me! Shu Shu stared blankly and then exclaimed, "I’m a beastman!"
Edgar regarded Shu Shu for a while: "I still like you even if you’re a beastman." He grew up so big, and Shu Shu was the only one he had ever liked. Even if Shu Shu might be different from the sub-beastmen of the Beastman Empire, he still liked him.
Shu Shu, however, only gathered that Edgar hadn't believed his words from beginning to end. For a moment, he only felt that he had misjudged this guy.
Nonetheless, even if this was the case, he could not let this mistake to continue, ah!
If Edgar kept pursuing him and, as a result, found out that he was not a sub-beastman but a beastman and absolutely unable to give birth to children, what a bad luck it would be, ah!
TL's note:
Update will be every fifth day, so it'll be on December 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30.