EnCoffin Me Chapter 30
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 30
A new day had dawned, and the lightbrain beside Alexio remained silent. He finished the last touches on the new house. The small flower bed in the yard had been fenced in, with little markers planted. The seeds lay quietly in the soil, waiting to sprout. The saint gathered up the trowel and other tools, then looked up at Alexio. Hesitating for a moment, he deliberately used his body to block the markers from view.
Alexio eagerly rushed over.
“What did you plant?” he asked.
Standing at the edge of the flower bed, Alexio leaned in to take a look. He had already imagined how the flowers would look once they grew. Maybe roses, with green leaves and red petals that seemed dusted with gold powder under the slightest light; or tulips, colorful and neatly arranged in the flowerbed; or perhaps some exotic Eastern flower, equally splendid. Whatever it was, he was fine with it... Why was this lunatic blocking his view?
The saint’s face was expressionless as he tried to shield the markers from Alexio’s eyes.
Alexio had a bad feeling.
Soon, his bad feeling was confirmed as he read the words on the markers—
【Carrots.】
【Tomatoes.】
【Potatoes.】
Alexio: “……”
His beautiful dream was shattered.
“I only know how to grow vegetables,” the saint said calmly. “Growing vegetables is more economical anyway.”
Alexio stared at him in disbelief. What was wrong with the Holy Temple? He thought the hunters they trained would be something… something above earthly concerns. But the saint had completely overturned his perception, first by ‘knowing how to cook’ and now by ‘planting carrots in a flowerbed.’
This was something he hadn't known ten thousand years ago. After all, he and the lunatic had spent little time together and had never lived side-by-side like this before.
“Not a single flower planted?” Alexio asked, feeling deeply disappointed. Still, he didn’t suggest digging up the seeds already planted. After all, the house was partly the saint's, and if he wanted to grow carrots… well, so be it.
The saint watched him quietly, then suddenly bent down, picked up a leftover marker from the pile on the ground, pulled out a colored pen, and handed it to Alexio.
“I planned to have you write it. I have planted roses along the wall.”
The pen was extended again toward Alexio, who only then came back to his senses and took it in a daze. The saint held the marker steady, making it easier for him to write. Alexio slowly put pen to marker and wrote the word for ‘roses’ in their era.
To his surprise, the pen actually wrote in color. Alexio found it quite appealing, while the saint raised an eyebrow slightly.
“This is a mood-sensitive pen. Your mood must be pretty good.”
Alexio was caught off guard and a little embarrassed as he handed the pen back. The saint gestured for him to step into the flower bed to take a closer look at where the roses were planted. Alexio hesitated briefly but then walked in and crouched down near the wall.
The soil was damp and clearly freshly turned. Alexio stared at the earth while the saint explained that once the seeds sprouted, they would need to remove the gray barrier for a few hours each day to let the plants get sunlight. Amid these calm, simple words, Alexio found himself imagining the roses growing from the soil, slowly climbing up the wall, bursting into brilliant red and white blossoms. He smiled at the scene playing out in his mind.
“They’ll look really nice,” he said.
“Of course.”
Alexio felt a bit pleased and reached into his pocket to touch the two candies he had.
“Give me your hand,” he said to the saint, who glanced at him.
“Are you hungry?”
No!
The saint opened his palm in front of Alexio. Alexio took out one candy and dropped it vertically into the saint’s hand, keeping the other in his own. Back when they’d been at the medical department, the saint had still been wary of him, not even willing to reveal his quirks. Who would have thought they could share candies now?
“No matter how much times change, it seems people always design candy the same way,” Alexio said, tugging at one end of his candy. Wrapped in golden paper twisted at both ends, it could be eaten by just pulling one end. Alexio didn’t know why, but he had always especially enjoyed this way of eating candy.
“It has to be cute, sparkling, and have a bit of an interactive feel when you eat it… I really like the process of pulling the wrapper off.”
Lucius looked at the candy in his own palm, then at Alexio’s candy. The low wall was still bare, but the illusory roses swayed between them, casting dappled shadows.
He spoke slowly.
“Yours looks a bit bigger?”
Alexio: ???
These were mass-produced candies, yet he was comparing sizes? He found it ridiculous and just tossed his candy toward Lucius, letting him judge.
“Is mine’s bigger?”
“…Looks like it’s just my imagination.”
The saint handed the candy back. Alexio was about to make a sarcastic remark, but he suddenly felt something was off. He looked down at the candy in his hand in disbelief.
The twisted ends had already been pulled open.
You f*cking… I give you candy and you're still such a jerk?!
He spun around and stormed off in anger. Of course, even then, he hopped and skipped carefully, making sure not to step on the saint’s tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes.
The saint stayed standing in the middle of the flower bed, spinning the colored pen in his hand a few times. He lowered his gaze to the rose marker and bent down to draw a string of roses on it. The colorful rose pattern surrounded the word ‘roses’ in brilliant hues, standing out sharply among the bare tomato, carrot, and potato markers.
Tomatoes, carrots, potatoes: ……
Understood. Only the roses are your real children, right?
Even though he was annoyed, Alexio still had to stick with the lunatic. Returning to the conservation center was basically like coming to work now. Ellie had originally said they could rest for a few days, but neither Alexio nor Lucius felt particularly tired.
Their physical condition simply couldn’t be denied.
At this moment, Alexio was walking with Ellie toward the agreed-upon empty room. As they rounded a corner, his steps suddenly paused, then he continued forward as if nothing had happened.
Across the corridor, with wide sleeves covering his mouth and a paper talisman hanging to cover one eye, Zhen let out a sigh. The talisman fluttered up and down. Suddenly finding this quite amusing, he couldn't help but blow on it again and again, happily entertaining himself for a while before abruptly remembering that this wasn't what he came here to do!
He still had to follow Alexio!
On the other side, Ellie noticed Alexio’s sudden movement and looked at him with curiosity.
“It’s nothing. Have Helgodon and Lucy arrived?” Alexio asked. He had already separated from the saint and planned to let the two sluggish dark creatures get some exercise today to improve their stamina.
“They’re here. And I have to mention that Helgodon actually walked here by himself today!” Ellie said, beaming. “All wobbly and clumsy, so cute!”
“Mm,” Alexio replied coldly. “How far did he walk?”
“About twenty meters!”
“……”
Alexio really wanted to emphasize to the conservation center, You’re a raising wolf cub, not piglet!
The ‘piglet’ proudly stood before Alexio, expecting to receive a praise. He deliberately held his fluffy head high, waiting for a pat.
But Alexio squished his face.
“Awooo? Awoooowooa!”
The wolf cub was utterly confused and let out a string of plaintive sounds. His caretaker, Dalph, instinctively reached out to comfort him, but Alexio shook his head.
“Twenty meters is too short. That doesn’t earn a pat.”
The wolf cub drooped his ears, thinking deeply for a moment, then stretched out a paw.
“Fifty meters still won’t do. Add another zero.”
“Awoo?” 050?
“…500!”
Frightened, the wolf cub tucked his tail, shaking his head vigorously. His ears flopped with the movement as he whimpered softly.
“I haven't even asked you to turn human yet. A mere five hundred meters won’t tire you out,” Alexio said firmly. He nodded slightly to Zhu Heng, who had come just in case the dark creatures had any health issues, then continued to press the wolf cub with a mix of threats and encouragement.
The lich girl stood quietly nearby, seemingly normal but gripping something tightly in her hand.
Under Alexio’s firm insistence, the wolf cub grudgingly accepted his fate. Dalph sighed with relief and couldn’t help but yawn. Alexio noticed the obvious dark circles under her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Dalph smiled and waved him off, indicating she was fine.
“Nothing. Lucy’s been more energetic lately, so we have to keep an eye on her at night.”
Since the last time Alexio had entrusted the lich girl to Dalph for a night, she had taken on more responsibility for the girl. So during the day, she looked after Helgodon, and at night, she kept a close watch on the lich’s movements. Naturally, Dalph was sleep-deprived.
“Why at night…” Alexio was initially puzzled but then had a sudden realization as he glanced toward the hand the lich was hiding in her sleeve.
“Lucy, what are you holding in your hand?”
The lich slowly lifted her head. Her naturally pale face, which should have been as pristine as porcelain, now bore two obvious dark circles. As she tried to answer Alexio’s question, her attention faltered. She lost control of the struggling object in her hand, letting it drop to the floor before it darted off wildly.
“Swoosh—”
Something streaked towards Zhu Heng, who quickly raised his leg to dodge, his white coat billowing in the wind. The thing then charged at the wolf cub. The wolf cub yelped, tucked his tail, and ran to hide behind Alexio’s legs.
Soon after, the room was filled with loud crashes, as if a cannonball were rampaging around, knocking over cups here and bumping into people there. After a series of chaotic sounds came a long, tearing ‘rip.’ The culprit was hanging upside down on the tattered curtain, still flailing wildly.
It was a shiny, greasy chicken skeleton.
Alexio: “……”
The lich lowered her eyes, on the verge of tears. She didn’t even know why it had turned out like this. Ever since she first activated the chicken skeleton, she hadn’t been able to stop it. It ran during the day and at night, across the floor and even on the ceiling, driving both her and Dalph to the brink of nervous breakdowns. Even yesterday, while watching Alexio’s livestream, the constant ‘whoosh’ of the chicken skeleton running was all around her.
“It won't… stop…” she sobbed, looking at Alexio with pitiful eyes.
The wolf cub sat on Alexio’s foot like a heavy weight and looked up at him expectantly.
Alexio: “……”
It was really tough for him.