Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 206 : Can You Hear It_ 4

However, this time, upon reaching the lakeside, before the formal deity invocation ceremony could begin, a sound that made one's eardrums rumble came from the lake surface.

"Oh, it seems quite angry..."

"Lady Yvonne."

Mondo whispered a reminder nearby.

"The Lake God dislikes seeing humans..."

It's said that hundreds of years ago, she was once injured by humans, so she has held a grudge until now.

"...I understand."

With no choice, Yvonne had to step back, patting the shoulder of the little cat beside her.

"Ah, yes!!"

"Can I entrust this to you? I'd feel more at ease if someone accompanies that child."

Rako nodded seriously.

Entrusted with this important task, she gripped her fish spear tightly and came to Bebe's side.

"Rako..."

Seeing Rako, Bebe felt more confident.

"I'll help shout too, let's all shout together!"

Rako raised her fish spear, calling out to the tribespeople present.

Seeing even a kitten smaller than themselves working so hard, the other Felis naturally didn't want to fall behind.

"Lady Gagar—"

"Lady Gagar—can you hear us?"

The alternating calls caused cracks to form on the ice surface.

Finally, under everyone's calls, the black enormous creature broke through the ice surface.

So big—

Seeing the 'Lake God', Yvonne drew in a sharp breath.

This enormous creature was covered from head to toe with dark green seaweed, carrying an aura of decay and death.

Rather than believing this was a 'god', some ominous giant monster might be more fitting.

"It's the Lake God—"

"The Lake God has appeared!"

The Felis all prostrated themselves on the ground.

Yvonne's hand remained on her sword hilt, watching the other party intently, not daring to relax in the slightest.

The weak point of the winter high-difficulty activity boss 'Lake Monster' is its eyes. If it showed any hostility towards her child, god or not, she would unhesitatingly thrust her sword into its vital point.

So big—

If not for having something to support herself with, Rako felt she would collapse under this close-range pressure.

However, Bebe beside her showed no fear on her face, she stared directly into those wheel-like, terrifyingly large eyes.

Come with me......

"The Lake God... seems to be talking to that child?"

It sounded like bubbles bursting, or some kind of wind sound and ice cracking.

"Everyone can't hear your voice, you must be very lonely, right?"

You can hear me--?

"...You want to take me away?"

Bebe shook her head, "I'm sorry... I have family I must accompany."

Come with me......

"I can come see you occasionally, but I can't stay by your side all the time."

Don't want......

"But, I can bathe with Lady Gagar~!"

Under everyone's tense gaze, she innocently stretched out her hand, pulling out a few strands of muddy seaweed from under the 'Lake God's' eyelids.

"Lady Gagar is a girl, right? It's not good to be so dirty, please let us bathe you—The hot spring is very warm, it feels very comfortable to soak in!"

——

The wind sound, bubble sound, and ice cracking sound all stopped simultaneously, followed by another long cry.

"Mama, she agreed!"

Seeing the opportunity, Yvonne shouted behind her:

"Now!!"

The cat people worked together to open the water valve.

Whoosh———!!

In an instant, a large amount of lake water rushed in with ice shards, the huge black shadow swiftly swimming underwater.

...How big is this thing??

The scene before her made her feel terrified.

Although the water channel had been dug wide enough, it was just barely sufficient. If it were any narrower, it probably wouldn't have been passable.

"Good—You can close it! Open the sluice gate on the hot spring side!"

"Yes!"

At the end connecting to the lake, the Felis dropped pre-prepared stone blocks and sandbags to plug the gap where ice water kept pouring in. On the hot spring side, Elsa was in control.

"I'm going to open it—!"

Soon, hot water flowed in.

The hot water from the hot spring collided with the ice water from the lake, producing a large amount of mist.

......

So warm......

"Hehe... I was right, wasn't I?"

Bebe actively climbed onto Gagar's head, using a small brush to clean the moss and seaweed on top.

"Please turn this way a bit—"

"That's right, just like that!"

The fish spears used for catching fish were tied with sturdy cattail grass by the Felis, transformed into useful long-handled brushes. All the cats joined in, some transporting and shoveling the cleared seaweed, some hanging on wooden ladders carefully scraping off the shellfish under Gagar's fins.

"She looks very happy."

After removing the dirt from her body, her long cry also became clearer.

"...Isn't she beautiful?"

Exhausted from using up her magic power, Elsa leaned on her shoulder and exclaimed in admiration.

It turned out that under that black body was a very beautiful and transparent, iridescent pearl-like white.

"Her true form is a white whale..."

Yvonne was also slightly surprised.

Legend has it that when a white whale's tears fall, they turn into gems.

This is also the reward for defeating the activity boss, a very rare material.

That's probably why it attracted many treasure hunters with greedy hearts.

However, compared to obtaining precious gems, she would rather the white whale never cry.

"How could this old one not have thought of it..."

However, this time, it was this side that shed regretful, turbid tears.

Mondo let out a remorseful lament.

"Even if we couldn't understand her language... our voices could have reached her."

We shouldn't have abandoned our homeland and faith so easily.

"It's not too late to start from now, is it?"

"Thank you, Lady Yvonne."

Mondo gave the highest tail-touching salute to the two.

"Thanks to you and Lady Elsa... we were able to regain that great one's approval like this, and return to our homeland like this."

"This is also the result of your efforts. Greenwoam also welcomes you to live there anytime."

The old cat let out a hearty laugh.

"There are also some Felis who like interacting with humans and don't plan to move away from there, just some young rascals... please take care of them."

"Of course."

Yvonne returned the salute.

"However, regarding the future planning for this place, I have an even better suggestion."

"...I'm all ears!"

The duchess revealed a merchant's characteristic sly smile.

"—How about developing this place into a tourist area?"

"...Tourist area?"

Long whiskers perked up in confusion, this was a term Mondo had never heard before.

"Mm... simply put, it's providing accommodation and entertainment for people traveling here for vacation."

Yvonne roughly explained some of her ideas about scenic area planning from a modern person's perspective.

"Just by providing accommodation and delicious food, this place can become a great tourist area!"

Many adventurers are very interested in demi-human culture. With mountains and water here, plus the opening of teleportation arrays, there will definitely be many adventurers coming here in the future, pursuing legends.

"I will contact the Leinster Guild to provide assistance for the reconstruction here. In return, we hope to obtain a portion of the profits."

Mondo fell into deep thought.

He understood that, at least for the Felis tribe, this was a win-win situation.

"This old one has no objections... I believe most of the tribe members won't have any objections either, it's just the Lake God..."

Come together!

An emotional wail came.

Yvonne felt she could somewhat understand it now.

The meaning was probably 'Don't even think about it', right?

However, although it was still expressing anger, it sounded much gentler than at the beginning.

There should still be room for negotiation.

"—This is a good thing!"

Communication with the Lake God still relied on this little one.

Bebe stroked the now very clean and smooth white whale surface.

"Among so many people, there will always be someone who can understand your voice!"

......Really?

"We will also protect Lady Gagar!"

"We won't let you suffer any harm again!"

"That's right!"

The Felis tribespeople responded with alternating voices.

......Alright.

The white whale fell silent, finally emitting a short syllable, then stirred up a wave of heat in the hot spring and sank down.

"Bebe, what does this mean?"

"It means she agrees!"

—Meow~!!

Hearing this, the cats burst into joyful cheers.

"Hoho... It seems we must organize a celebration tonight."

Stroking his whiskers, Mondo narrowed his eyes and smiled, patting his granddaughter's head.

"Both of you must honor us with your presence as well."

"Of course."

It seems things have finally come to a conclusion.

"Bebe, let's have grilled fish tonight!"